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"content": "(Mr. ole Metito): Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to also contribute to the Speech delivered by His Excellency the President. Before I do that, I would like to take this opportunity to really congratulate our athletics team that participated in the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) cross country championships held in Mombasa. It really did a good job. I also want to thank the Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services and the committees that were in charge of the preparations. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in supporting His Excellency the President's Speech, I would like to point out two things. The first is education. Much has been said about education by the hon. Members who have spoken before. But it is a key sector in the development of this country. I would like to really commend the Government for the introduction of free primary education. Actually, we have seen an increase in enrolment of pupils into primary schools of about 1.5 million in the last four years. But there is still a lot to be done even at the primary schools level. Using the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) money we have really, as Members of Parliament, initiated and completed many classrooms in primary schools. We have also started new schools where there were none, especially in the very remote areas. However, we have an acute shortage of teachers. This is brought about by one factor being used by the Ministry of Education. It is using the teacher-pupil ratio to actually staff those schools, which is, one teacher to 50 pupils. Because of the use of that ratio, some areas are very much disadvantaged. In some very remote areas, we have primary schools with about 100 pupils only. Using that ratio, they are entitled to get only two teachers. Because of the shortage of teachers they end up being given only one teacher, March 27, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 131 not taking into account that these 100 pupils are in Class One to Class Eight. So, I would kindly ask the Ministry of Education to really check on that. On secondary education, I would like to commend the Government for providing bursaries to the needy students. Some impact is actually being felt. But it is really paramount that we start thinking, as a Government, about providing free secondary school education. If it is not possible, I would suggest that the Ministry of Education considers funding it in phases. For example, free secondary education can be provided at Form One and Form Two levels for the time being, then, parents can take care of those in Form Three and Form Four. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to really commend the Ministry of Education also for the good reforms that we have seen in secondary schools. From this year, last year's Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates have an opportunity to repeat only the subjects that they failed. This is very commendable and most welcome, because it will save time and money. Last year, I brought a Motion which was passed in this House. It recommended that orphans and very vulnerable children should be given free secondary school education. It will be good if the Ministry considers that. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the initiative by the Government to introduce direct election of Mayors, Deputy Mayors and Chairmen of councils is good. I think it will go a long way in trying to curb corruption. But I think there are more challenges ahead. His Excellency the President mentioned, in his Speech, that the CDF and Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF) were allocated Kshs10 billion and Kshs7.5 billion respectively in the last financial year. The difference is not much, but when we go to the ground, the impact of the CDF is more than that of the LATF. The Ministry of Local Government should try to address the issues affecting the LATF. First of all, 50 per cent of the LATF goes to operations and overheads of those local authorities. I think it is high time we allowed 100 per cent of the LATF money to go to projects. By doing so, we will see a lot of impact being brought by the devolved fund at the grassroots level. Secondly, I think it is the high time we started paying councillors directly from the Consolidated Fund. Part of the LATF money is used to pay salaries and allowances to councillors in areas that are not self-sustaining. If we pay the councillors directly from the Consolidated Fund, more of the LAFT money will go to projects. I would also propose that we establish committees at the wards level, just like the CDF committees, that will be managing the design, implementation and monitoring of LATF projects. As it is now, it is upon the area councillors to decide what projects to be put up in the respective wards. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, allow me to say something about health. The Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) has done a lot of infrastructure for the health sector in terms of health facilities. But we face the danger of actually having those facilities being \"white elephant\" projects because the Ministry of Health has not moved in to operationalize them in terms of provision of medicine and personnel. We, as a House, should actually assist that Ministry by voting for even more funds to go towards the operationalization of those facilities. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, regarding the energy sector, we are really doing well. I wish to thank that Ministry because in the last four years, they have spent Kshs7 billion on rural electrification. Since Independence up to 2002, only Kshs6 billion was used in that sector. For 40 years, only Kshs6 billion was spent, but for four years, Kshs7 billion has been spent! That shows that our economy has recovered and that we have also had prudent management of those resources. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on agriculture, I really welcome the initiative by the Government to actually increase our national food reserves, both on maize and dry milk. This will actually help in disaster preparedness. Being one of the sectors that have tremendously improved in terms of the economy, I would kindly ask the Ministry to look into the very basic commodities whose prices are going up day after day, for example, sugar, maize flour, fertilizer, seeds and other 132 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 27, 2007 farm inputs. Actually, it beats all logic when we say that the agricultural sector has really grown, but the basic commodities falling under that sector are really becoming expensive. Farmers, at the end of the day, may not see the impact of that growth. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
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