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{
    "id": 1581976,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1581976/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 625,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kigumo, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Joseph Munyoro",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. At the outset, I rise to support the Bill. One of our challenges in this country is that we have become predominantly a litigious country. We go to courts either with genuine concerns or with nuisance concerns and we become litigants. All those manner of litigants who have constantly been on the case of NG-CDF are doing so from a nuisance point of view. In this country, I do not think there is anyone who does not recognise the role that the NG-CDF has played. We know from our villages and schools the number of children who have gone to school courtesy of NG-CDF bursaries. The Fund helps even with electrification even though I know we have a matching fund. The NG-CDF committees can set aside some money where they decide they need to light up a particular village. Then, the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC) matches with an equal amount of money to do rural electrification. If you look at the number of our counties and the money they have got since the enactment of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, you will be hard-put to point out the things that they have accomplished. Conversely, if you ask any member of the public from any corner of this Republic to point to you what NG-CDF has achieved, they will show you what our naked eyes can see. Therefore, we must entrench this Fund in the Constitution. It is not for us; it is for posterity. I cannot remember the last time the national Government did anything regarding our police stations in my constituency. We know that we keep crying here. We keep bringing petitions and questions regarding the funding of our security vehicles. I am sure we would not be having those problems if such were left to the NG-CDF. They would budget and buy police vehicles where necessary. That development comes from the person who is served by the Government. The public knows what they require. Other than 2.5 per cent, it is important that this Fund be enhanced. I am also of a very strong opinion that the same should be done to things like roads so that each constituency is assured of getting its fair share of roads revenue. I think waiting for benevolence from the national Government or the person in power to develop your area ended with our last Constitution. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I also wish to sympathise with my colleague. I served in the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, where Hon. Kuria Kimani was my Chair, and I sympathise with what he has gone through. We must understand the role we play here as Members of Parliament. Some of us have been assigned responsibilities as chairpersons of committees, and we implement what has been resolved elsewhere. However, I also wish to state that if we sit here as a House and convince ourselves that someone orchestrated the crowds we saw yesterday, we are deceiving ourselves. This is a matter that must be viewed with the seriousness it deserves. We are confronting an existential crisis as a nation and as a Republic. If we merely assign blame and search for a bogeyman for what occurred yesterday, we are not being truthful. We were all present last year when similar events took place. We saw what happened yesterday, and I urge the Government to take this issue with the seriousness it deserves. We must listen to our people. Anyone in this House who has teenagers at home understands that one cannot simply mobilise them to do what they did yesterday. They organise themselves, communicate among themselves, and act on what they believe is right. We cannot blame them simply because of their age. Therefore, I truly hope that this Government listens, that the people listen, and that we put an end to chest-thumping. Let us genuinely pay attention to the concerns of the people. If The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}