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{
"id": 181620,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/181620/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Nuh",
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"speaker": {
"id": 114,
"legal_name": "Nuh Nassir Abdi",
"slug": "nuh-abdi"
},
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I first begin by commending and thanking the Mover of this Motion, Dr Eseli. This Motion should have been passed yesterday. I would like to urge hon. Members not to make this Motion a forum where everyone starts lobbying for a region. We have seen what devolved funds can do through the CDF kitty. It is only reasonable that there is reasoning all round the funds that are set aside, just like the CDF, for specific regions. The issue of population differences or variables has been brought to light. It has been an issue of discussion over the past many months. The Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs) and the regions with low population of human beings have been victimised through receiving low funds. This is because their population seems to be a bit lower than other regions. The trouble that someone undergoes while going to assess a facility, for instance, a health centre, a dispensary or a school which is 30 kilometres away or to fetch water from a borehole 80 kilometres away using a donkey or a camel, should be brought to light. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to give a chance to other hon. Members to contribute to this Motion and I do not want to repeat issues that have already been stated. However, there is a lot of inequality when I compare the infrastructure in my constituency with urban centres. Recently, as I was touring the country, I visited Lagdera Constituency to view the CDF projects. During the tour, my Committee came across a primary school with around 50 pupils and almost 30 pupils who were in Class One, were above the age of 20 years. The school was constructed using the CDF. The desks were bought using the CDF and the structures were put up using the CDF. Had the CDF not been here to save these people, would those kids go to school? Would they have got the opportunity like any other Kenyan children get, to go to school? Then I started estimating when these children will finish their primary education, go to secondary school, join university and get employed as civil servants to serve the people of Kenya October 29, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3099 and then retire at the age of 60 years from the Civil Service. Just barely seven years in the Civil Service, such a Kenyan will be called upon to retire because he will have attained the retirement age. He will have attained the seven years of serving in the Kenya Civil Service, courtesy of the CDF. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I come from a constituency where to date, we have not seen electricity, not even a pole. The larger Tana River District saw what electricity looks like just towards the 2007 General Election. Then when it comes to the Rural Electrification Programme, every constituency will be allocated an equal amount of money, and maybe, the ASALs and regions that have never seen electricity would even receive a lesser percentage of the funds just because their population seems to be a bit lower than in other regions. I would like to urge hon. Members not to make this Motion a forum to score some regional advocacy for population as the basis for everything. Everything else counts! Just as population counts, so does the distance between villages in some of the constituencies and how vast some of these constituencies are. This will prove the effort that a single Kenyan would spare to go and assess a facility, whether it is a school, a water source or even a road. It might take even a week, because people cannot even afford bus fare to go to the nearest shopping centre to purchase a loaf of bread or to sell a litre of milk. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support Dr. Eseli's Motion in totality. Every aspect that provides an indicator to poverty and hardship should be considered when allocating these funds. With those few remarks, I support the Motion."
}