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{
    "id": 1528624,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1528624/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 877,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "infrastructure. Therefore, I implore them to give this process a chance. I have seen attempts to water down this Bill by publishing a similar Bill in the Senate. I urge the Senate to give this process a chance since this is a money Bill. I urge them to allow it to progress through the Senate to enable the county governors to access funds that will help our constituents and ward representatives. The other day, I watched a video clip on social media in which an MCA from Hon. Mburu Kahangara's Constituency in Lari was shedding tears in front of the governor, pleading for resources to be allocated to her ward to maintain impassable roads. She was pleading with the governor because they could not even transport bodies for funerals due to the bad state of the roads in that area. The situation is dire not only in Kiambu County but across the country. Some governors may want the world to believe otherwise. In fact, I was told that the Governor of Kiambu had alleged that the National Assembly was holding Ksh10 billion for road maintenance, which is very far from the truth. It is the Council of Governors, through the case that is bound to be determined tomorrow, 12th March, that has held onto the Ksh10 billion that should be helping the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA) to rehabilitate roads. The KERRA also assists governors in maintaining some of the rural roads, which may be their responsibility. The other notion they have attempted to drive is that these funds are going to Members of Parliament. Again, this is far from the truth. Members of Parliament do not manage any of these funds. These resources are managed by the Regional offices of KERRA and the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA). That is where procurement is done. KERRA and KURA engineers oversee the construction and maintenance of roads in our constituencies, wards, and counties. Therefore, even as we sympathise with those Members of the County Assemblies who have shed tears on behalf of the people they represent, we must plead with the Council of Governors to allow the nation to move forward on the matter of additional county governments allocations. I have seen a number of adverts by KURA for road maintenance in Nairobi, even though many urban areas have benefited immensely from the Kenya Urban Support Programme (KUSP) and the Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Programme (KISIP) funds. All these funds are in this Bill. Many counties benefit from healthcare funds despite the loss of global funds from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other donors. Additional grant money from other donors, not loans, is also available. However, the county governments cannot access the money because this Bill has not become an Act of Parliament. Therefore, I plead with our colleagues in the Senate to hasten the processing of this Bill when it is transmitted to them to enable the governors to access these funds to help our constituents. I beg to reply."
}