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"speaker_name": "Mr. Kajembe",
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"id": 163,
"legal_name": "Ramadhan Seif Kajembe",
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"content": "Again, you will see that local authorities are unable to collect revenue. Consequently, some of them are collapsing. I would request the Minister for Local Government to go back to the drawing board and find out which local authorities are viable. I remember that during the last regime areas where local leaders entertained the authorities were declared local authorities, even though they did not even have the basic facilities to enable them operate as such. I can even remember a local authority which had to buy a chain for the mayor of another local authority, because the latter local authority did not have finances. Such a local authority cannot collect any revenue, because there is none. Mr. Temporary Deputy, Sir, land rates in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu Cities, among other local authorities, are so high that land owners cannot pay them. When one fails to pay, the local authorities prosecute them. Finally, properties are auctioned. Something should be done to streamline collection of land rates by local authorities. If you look at the flow of traffic in our major cities, you will find that there is always a traffic jam. For instance, if you do not leave the centre of the City of Nairobi about four hours before the time of departure of your flight from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, you will miss your flight, because of traffic jams. So, what are local authorities doing to correct this situation? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, our roads are classified and we are told that some of them are maintained by the Ministry of Roads and Public Works. We are also told that town planning roads are maintained by the local authorities. If you go to Mombasa City, you will find that there are roads in Nyali Estate which are maintained by the management of that estate. There must be an authority which is responsible for the maintenance of roads and another one which is responsible for the flow of traffic in our cities. We have the same roads and people are still buying vehicles. On which roads will we drive these vehicles in the next one or two years? We are always told that by-passes are being constructed. Ministers in the Ministry of Roads and Public Works have been telling us that by-passes will be constructed. We have not seen any by-pass being constructed. We should construct fly-overs to be used by small vehicles in order to ease the flow of traffic on our roads. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to talk about the Women Enterprise Development Fund, which is yet to be introduced. When you talk about giving Kshs1 million to all the women groups in each constituency, each group will get Kshs50,000. We will end up giving Kshs1 million to 20 groups. That is what is happening with the Youth Enterprise Development Fund today. 302 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 3, 2007 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in my constituency, I have 326 youth groups. Out of those, only 20 groups will benefit. This again will create a problem for the youths and the programme will not succeed. The programme will not succeed unless the Government considers setting aside more funds for the Fund. If the Government is going to introduce the Women Enterprise Development Fund, it should consider setting aside a lot of money, so that all the women groups can benefit. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to talk about the CDF. This is our own idea, because it is hon. Members who pushed the Government to allow the introduction of the CDF. We are happy that it is successful. The President consented to the introduction of the CDF, which is very good. Looking at what the CDF has done today in the constituencies, it is very clear that the Minister for Finance should set aside more funds for the CDF. He should raise the percentage from 2.5 per cent to almost 10 per cent. Our constituencies have benefited. Health centres and schools have been built and bursaries have been given to needy students in secondary schools, tertiary colleges and universities. It is time the Government raised the CDF allocation. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}