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"id": 202163,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Sungu",
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"legal_name": "Gor Eric Sungu",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, from the outset, I would like to commend Prof. Mango for bringing this very important Motion to the Floor of this House. It is only unfortunate that the Motion has come here towards the end of the life of this Parliament. So, we may not be able to achieve the objective of the Motion, but it has a noble objective. The key words of this Motion are \"equitable distribution of loans\". I have figures with me here, which have been issued by the HELB. These figures speak volumes. In the 2006/2007 academic year, in Kiambu District, Central Province, 596 male students and 519 female students got HELB loans. Let us compare those numbers with those in Kitui District, where only 331 male and 281 female applicants got loans. These figures speak volumes. The HELB loans, which are given by the Government, are supposed to be a form of affirmative action to help students from poor areas. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if I were to read out all the figures contained in this document, one would want to query why Central Province gets the lion's share of the HELB kitty, despite the fact that all Kenyans pay taxes to the Central Government. Central Province does not dominate payment of taxes. We know that most of the taxes come from Mombasa District. So, we know for sure that there is discrimination. It is, therefore, important to ensure that this inequality is corrected, so that Kenyans can have a fair chance of getting HELB loans. 4160 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES September 26, 2007 We also know something from the grapevine. We talk to students from various universities, who are our constituents. They tell us that it is not a question of coming from Central Province but rather a question of those who are able to reach HELB. Students from rich backgrounds are the ones who get HELB loans, yet that money is intended to help students from hardship areas, whose parents are unable to pay fees. If you look at the money that has been disbursed by HELB, you will notice that most applicants from Central Province get the highest amounts of loan, whereas if any student from my area ever got Kshs20,000 from HELB, that would be a record. They always get much less than Kshs20,000, yet they are the people who are poor. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this favouritism of the rich, against the poor, must be stopped. One way of doing so is to make sure that this Motion sails through. We need to provide equal opportunities to students, with recognition of gender. The dangers paused by being unfair to our young people is insecurity, lopsided development, with the result that we may even have conflict in this country. This kind of thing should not be acceptable to Kenyans. Since this Parliament has got very noble aims, I would urge hon. Members to support this Motion. Acquiring specialised skills is important. The human resource is an important factor in development. If we want to ensure a proper future for this country, by ensuring that our young people are the leaders of tomorrow, as we always say, we must ensure that they get loans. The myth that we were going to create 500,000 jobs in a year has not come to fruition because our people have not been empowered across the board. Wealth and employment creation mean that people must have skills, so that they can start companies and run them successfully. Therefore, the human resource factor is very important. One of the ways of making sure that this is properly catered for is to ensure that there is equitable distribution of this resource. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue raised in the Motion is decentralisation. We have a very good example of how the CDF, which is a devolved fund to the constituency level, has worked. The reason as to why there is so much controversy and concern is the fact that the CDF has had an impact, because it has gone right to the ground, where the people are. The people are aware of that fact. On the other hand, if you look at HELB, you will find that it is mysterious. Even as late as yesterday, a student came to me saying: \"I need to pay this money. We do not have this money. My family is poor. I am an orphan. I have applied to the HELB, and there is nothing I can do\". We all know that more often than not, we are required to either write or physically go to the HELB for it to take action. That is unfair. It is now known, for example, that most funds from the HELB go to Central Province. Again, I say that this is very unfair. If we were to decentralise HELB and have the funds disbursed at the constituency level, obviously, we would make it a success, because students from my constituency will be able to know whether they have been adequately funded, given the fact that people are from various backgrounds. Some are orphans, others are from poor families, while others are from rich families. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, a good example is when Parliament decided to take the Minister for Education to task. We now have the bursary funds for secondary schools disbursed at the constituency level. This has also been a success story. There are no complaints. I have not seen a single Question coming to the Floor of this House about the secondary school bursary funds that are being provided by the Ministry of Education. Therefore, as a House, we must insist that, even if this Motion was passed and we are not able to bring the law into operation, this Government acts before the Bill is enacted by Parliament and ensures that HELB is decentralised. Again, that will ensure fair regional distribution. We know that this is working even in the District Roads Committees (DRCs). We now know what is coming to our districts. There are less questions about such issues. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, issues that are raised by constituents are many. One of them is September 26, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 4161 that the students are not able to get those loans in the simplest way possible. Discrimination, favouritism and even tribalism is the order of the day at Higher Education Loans Board (HELB). We often have to intervene to ensure that our constituents get those loans. The reverse side is to take Kenya as a country. Take the number of students. There were about 38,000 students last year. This year, there are about 39,000. Those are very many students. It is difficult to manage at that level. If you decentralise HELB, it is going to be easy to manage. That may allow HELB to actually obtain some of the funds that they have loaned out to people. The other day, HELB put a notice in the newspapers saying that it will ensure that anybody who wants to come to Parliament will do so after he or she has paid back the loan in full. I, for example, paid my loan a long time ago. That is supposed to be a revolving fund. A revolving fund cannot work because the supply of money to HELB is limited. The objective of a revolving fund is to ensure that those who have benefited from those loans pay them back so that other students can get the loans. It is a shame because the other day, HELB published in the newspapers that it is owed billions of shillings. Imagine a situation where they were able to get those billions and distributed them across the board to the entire country! That would go a long way to help our people. That is why I said that we should decentralize HELB, so that it can have more time to manage its affairs properly. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are many issues that I could have raised. We have got many facts and figures. But I believe other hon. Members want to contribute. With those few comments, I beg to second."
}