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"id": 195501,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Mwaita",
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"legal_name": "Sammy Sila Komen Mwaita",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this Motion. I rise to support this Motion on the Supplementary Estimates. First, I want to applaud the Minister for the prudence he has shown in managing the Ministry. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, first, I would like to appreciate the efforts the Minister has made in terms of managing the Ministry. A glance at what he has presented reveals that his Supplementary Budget is about Kshs55 billion. He has told us in this House that his main Budget was about Kshs693 billion which means that there is an increment of about 9 per cent. Taking into account what happened this year, especially after the general election, this is excellent and the Ministry, including the Minister, ought to be applauded for a job well done. The Minister told us that he is going to keep domestic borrowing at Kshs33.9 billion which, when you compare it to the main Budget, works to something under 5 per cent. Given that we are in difficult times, this is also excellent. I wish to commend the Minister for that and ask him to continue that way. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another point that I would like to raise is with regard to grants to the National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK). We all know that the price of fuel has hit the roof. A litre of petrol now is close to Kshs100 compared to what is happening in the international market. If the NOCK is assisted and given more grants, it can be able to stabilise the price of fuel in this country and the spill-over effects will be felt in all sectors, including the agricultural sector. I wanted to comment on what my colleague mentioned, that is, Regional Development Authorities. What is in the Budget is Kshs200 million for Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA). This Authority covers a very wide area within Rift Valley Province. I would have expected the Minister to allocate KVDA more money instead of a meagre Kshs200 million. These regional authorities, as the previous speaker said, play a major role, particularly in the Kerio Valley. 810 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 30, 2008 They do a lot especially in the areas of irrigation, infrastructure development and the promotion of agriculture of drought-tolerant crops. I appeal to the Minister that in the next Budget, which is just a short time to come, he should be able to, at least, double that figure of Kshs200 million to KDA so that, at least, Kshs400 to Kshs500 million is allocated. I note that in the Supplementary Estimates, the Ministry of Education has been given Kshs12.7 billion. The Minister indicated that this will go towards assisting free secondary education. I hope that in the next Budget, the Minister will take into account the employment of teachers. It is common knowledge and a fact that there are over 40,000 teachers who are qualified in this country and have not been employed. Recently, in my constituency, I buried two teachers who qualified in 2002 as P1 teachers and yet they were unable to be absorbed in the teaching fraternity. Since they could not secure employment in this country, they had to go to a neighbouring country Somalia for the last two years. Unfortunately, because of the instability in that country, they fell victim to the militia and we buried them last week. I appeal to the Minister that in the next Budget, he ensures that teachers who qualified, particularly, five years ago, are absorbed and posted to teach in our schools. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I conclude my remarks, I wish to raise the issue of insecurity, especially cattle rustling, which my colleague had mentioned. The cattle rustling menace is an age-old problem. It does not only affect North Eastern Province, but also Rift Valley Province, particularly my constituency where a whole division, Mukutani, has been deserted. I note that in these Supplementary Estimates, there is about Kshs6 billion which has been factored under the Item of security. I hope that when the recruitment of security agents, particularly the Administration Police (APs), is done more of these officers will be deployed to Mukutani Division in my constituency. The other aspect I would like to touch on is about security. There is a figure of about Kshs1.3 billion which has been put under the Item of National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS). It is common knowledge that the NSIS has been sleeping on the job. Recently, we saw what happened when the Mungiki planned and paralysed movement within our urban centres and yet here we are giving them Kshs1.3 billion. They seem to be sleeping on the job. Save for that, I support the entire Motion and I beg to support."
}