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{
    "id": 158328,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/158328/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 155,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "in terms of financial implications in the Budget--- I would like to request that, in future, the Minister should ensure that budget for roads is not affected. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have roads in my district that have been sneaked in the Budget and have always existed in the Printed Estimates. The road from Londiani to Fort Ternan has been in and out of Printed Estimates since 1965. I am afraid because the same road is a casualty of the freeze on the Development Expenditure. I would like to seek an assurance from the Minister for Finance, who is a good friend of mine that such roads are not going to be taken out of the Budget to be read in June. For many years, we have always been told that we have factored this and that project or road within the Budget. Then people clap their hands and imagine that the Government is thinking about them, only to be told that because of issues like the ones we are faced with now, the project cannot be undertaken. I will agree that times are not the same. Not undertaking a project year in, year out, is not going to be acceptable. Mine is just to implore upon the Minister for Finance to look at the projects that are going to be left out, if that is necessary. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Kazi Kwa Vijana initiative is okay. To me, the Kshs3.4 billion that is being sought by the Minister to help our youth find jobs is very interesting. However, my worry is; how is this money going to be administered? We have had issues like this and the youth have always been told that the Government this time round believes in helping the youth. They have been told that this is a Government that is thinking about the youth and that is why we have factored in the Youth Enterprise Development Fund to the tune of about Kshs1 million or Kshs2 million per constituency. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Kazi kwa Vijana initiative is laudable. My reservations are on the implementation. I would like to ask the Minister for Finance to ensure that these kind of finances are made available to the real vijana at the constituency level. However, we see the same Government having conflicting issues. The Government has increased the retirement age from 55 years to 60 years, yet it is telling us that they are thinking about the youth and would be creating job opportunities for them. As we look into this proposal from the Government, it is important that the Government thinks seriously about the youth. I am trying to tell the Government that the percentage of youth in this country is increasing day in, day out. Sooner or later, it is the youth who are going to develop their own programmes and implement them themselves. This is because we shall be having the numbers. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), I want to agree with the Minister for thinking about these people who got themselves into this mess because of the bickering by, us, politicians. As I support this Motion, it is also important to assure the IDPs that there is peace in the country and they should be willing to leave the camps. We have heard cases of IDPs refusing to leave camps. We have heard cases of the Government giving Kshs10, 000 or Kshs25, 000 to help assist the IDPs. We are an African society. Building a two- roomed house for an African family is not sufficient. I know that part of this money that we will approve today will go a long way in assisting the IDPs so that we can, at least, live together as Kenyans again."
}