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{
"id": 1626496,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626496/?format=api",
"text_counter": 172,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Mumma",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "moving us in development, particularly moving the marginalized areas, in the 20 years where the fund is supposed to be. We should be able to demonstrate the value that this fund has brought about, whatever Parliament will be there, might be able to even determine the need to increase it. There is nothing wrong in determining that we can actually take a portion of the national revenue and continue to deploy it towards areas that need to be brought up in order to participate in the development agenda of this country on an equal basis with the others. As I finalize, I will not speak to the detail of what is there. However, I find it curious that a county would be allocated only Kshs31 million or Kshs29 million. I do not know what Kshs29 million will do in terms of real change from marginalisation coming up. I fall in the school of thought that felt maybe we should have just picked a few counties, given them adequate funds to bring their infrastructure to a particular level and then we move to the next and do the same. If we did so, we must be able to say in batch one, we will have the following 10 counties. In the next batch, we will have the following 20 counties and so on. For those who are appropriating or who appropriated these funds, I am disturbed at the figure of Kshs29 million. I believe it is money, but I do not know how Kshs29 million would truthfully assist the areas that are truly marginalised. I would like to demonstrate in one way. If you are going to build a school in the far-flung place of Turkana, for that school to be functional, it requires the physical infrastructure, teachers, security, water, energy and a health facility to be there to support that group. So, if you give them Kshs29 million, how much can they achieve? It means if they were going to use the Equalisation Fund to fast-track facilities that can get children going to school, we will be waiting every year so that a building is done, it lies fallow as we wait for next year's funds to come do the water and then we wait again for the next year to come. However, if we give them enough funds to build a school, put water, do the road infrastructure around that school and do a health facility, then we will have done what this fund was intended to do - to fast track the bringing of those regions to a level where the others are. Madam Temporary Speaker, I would urge us, as leaders, to not be fixated with tearing the little monies that are there so that every county must get a little bit of it. We need to divide these funds in such a way that we can in two years, demonstrate that by deploying these funds in Turkana and Tana River, we have brought real change to the lives of children, women, men and the communities in those far flung places. I, therefore, ask our Committee on Finance and Budget to think through the ideology behind the Equalisation Fund and be innovative enough to help us ensure that the deployment of this fund truly does what it is supposed to do; to fast track that development. I thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker."
}