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"id": 181621,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Wamalwa",
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"legal_name": "Eugene Ludovic Wamalwa",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise also to support the Motion. I wish to thank and congratulate my friend, Dr. Eseli, for bringing this very important Motion to the House. It could not have come at a better time as the nation prepares to embark on the journey towards the completion of the Constitutional Review process, in which I believe that the centre piece should be devolution. As we complete the review process, we are going to expect that the future of this country will embrace devolution and will have more funds being devolved to the regions through the CDF, the Local Authorities Transfer Fund (LATIF), the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund and the youth and women funds. I believe that we will expand the meaning of devolution to other areas to also cover the landless squatters. We need to have a fund that we will actually be devolved to the regions where squatters can be identified and funds allocated to the various districts to settle them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was just listening to my honourable friend from Lamu. I got the figures that he referred to; the difference between his constituency--- I think that was Lamu East and Lamu West. One constituency has a voters population of about 11,000 and it receives Kshs36 million. The other one has 30,000 voters and it receives Kshs41 million. I thought about my own constituency, Saboti. Saboti is one of the largest constituencies in Kenya. We hope that when constituency boundaries will be reviewed, it will be split into two. It has 120,000 registered voters. So, if my friend is talking about 30,000 registered voters and he is getting Kshs41 million--- That is compared to his neighbour who has 11,000 voters and he is getting 36 million. If you were to compare that with Saboti Constituency with 120,000 voters, we would say that Saboti Constituency, which is receiving Kshs56 million, is suffering a great injustice. Indeed, if we were to go by the population, particularly as enumerated, Saboti should be able to receive four times what the other constituency is receiving - the one that has 30,000 voters. We have 120,000 voters. Simple arithmetic would dictate that we should get about Kshs164 million and yet, we get only Kshs56 million. But we do not blame and we cannot blame anyone for it, except that we should seek to establish a clear criteria that will take into consideration those factors to ensure equitable distribution of resources. 3100 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE October 29, 2008 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, that affects the other funds as well. For example, the Youth Enterprise Development Fund. With the youth being about 70 per cent of our population, if my constituency is four times more populated than the other constituency, and we are getting Kshs2 million each for our youth, it will mean that 70 per cent of 120,000 voters, I would have more youths than the other constituency. Yet, because of lack of a clear criteria, what is being allocated really, is almost equal. It would mean that there are some constituencies in certain parts of this country that are actually being short-changed because of lack of a criteria! I want to thank Dr. Eseli for having actually thought through this. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, looking at the recent distribution of Youth Enterprise Development Fund cheques in my constituency, we had about 1,400 youth groups. Out of those, only 25 groups succeeded and were given Kshs1 million to share! Out of 1,400 youth groups in Saboti Constituency in Trans Nzoia West District, that is a drop in the ocean! The impact is almost zero! That also applies to the Women Enterprise Development Fund. Going with the population, some constituencies will have more women and youth than others. We need a clear criteria to ensure equitable distribution of resources. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, like in legal practice, each case has its own peculiar features. Each case can only be determined on its merits. I think it is very, very important that we establish a clear criteria. That is because, as we are speaking, we are expecting that, in future, and the Minister for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 has already given an indication - and we are anxiously waiting for that - he will bring amendments to the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) Act which will enhance the amount allocated to the regions. Right now, we are receiving only about 2.5 per cent and the Chairman of the CDF Committee is here. We are expecting that those amendments will come. If we were to enhance this amount to, say, 7 per cent or even 10 per cent, we are looking at a lot of money being devolved to the regions. But without a clear criteria, some areas will still continue lagging behind and suffering. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, that also applies to the Local Authorities Transfer Fund (LATF). We were very pleased to hear the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government, hon. Mudavadi, indicate that he intends to bring reforms to amend the LATF Act of 1995 to ensure that the current 5 per cent of LATF is actually increased. If that is increased, we are looking at an increment from the current five per cent of LATF to about 10 per cent, having approved a budget of about Kshs9 billion! That money will be going towards the LATF. We are actually expecting, if we are going to double that, a lot of money to go to the regions. Therefore, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support this Motion because it is very timely and we need, before we actually move towards this devolution, and before we increase the devolved funds, let us put in place proper legislation to ensure clear criteria that will ensure fairness and equitable distribution of resources. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}