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"id": 245902,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Kamanda",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services",
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"legal_name": "Maina Kamanda",
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"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me this chance to contribute to the Budget Speech. While I support this year's Budget proposals, I want to remind the Minister for Finance that allocations for my Ministry have been reduced considerably that we may not be able to operate. I say so because last year the allocation for my Ministry was Kshs1.9 billion. It has now been reduced to Kshs1.7 billion. I hope during the Supplementary Estimates, the Minister will increase this allocation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, while I commend the Minister for allocating over Kshs2 billion for the Ministry of Youth Affairs, I also wish him to consider my gender department. It is a very sensitive department which was created just about two years ago and we have no funds. I had proposed an allocation of about Kshs200 million for this department but it only got Kshs10 1614 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 27, 2006 million. In fact, Kshs10 million is very meagre for this department because I have a very ambitious programme for it. I hope the Minister will add some money for this department during the Supplementary Estimates. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, since the NARC Government took over the running of this country, through the four Budgets that have gone through this Parliament, Kenyans have benefitted through various projects. The Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), for example, has been felt in all parts of this country. We have witnessed rehabilitation of a lot of stalled projects, for example, the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) that was re-opened yesterday by His Excellency the President, and the National Youth Project that is in Kasarani. The NARC Government can boast of having done a lot for the three years it has been in power. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the Minister for increasing the funds earmarked for the CDF by 40 per cent. This is a lot of money that can be put to good use. However, we need to look at the issues of the CDF critically especially the manner in which these funds are managed. I know hon. Members are of the opinion that we are handling these funds well. Some of us might not be hon. Members in the next Parliament. We would like, when we are not in Parliament, to at least have a say in the way the CDF is handled. The CDF is driven by hon. Members of Parliament. If we say we do not drive the CDF, we are cheating Kenyans. It is important that we have an accounting officer to manage the CDF because these are public funds. This money does not belong to hon. Members. We need a transparent officer, someone who can be questioned on how these funds are being utilised. This means that we need to employ such an officer. The Government has to second an accounting officer in each of the 210 constituencies. The CDF concept is very good. Some constituencies have done a lot of projects. In fact, Kenyans in all regions of this country are talking of the benefits of the CDF. We just need to streamline a few areas to make the CDF more successful. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of the reduction of the number of vehicles assigned to Ministers and Assistant Ministers, I want to fully support the action taken by the Minister. Some of us joined the Cabinet recently. We have been using one vehicle. I do not see the need for one individual having two or three official vehicles. The issue of security should follow suit. Why should an individual have four or five security officers assigned to him or her? What has someone done to Kenyans to be assigned five to ten security officers when we have a shortage of security officers in the country? The Minister of State for Administration and National Security should look into this issue and reduce the number of security officers assigned to Ministers, Assistant Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and other senior Government officers. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the Minister for the manner in which he handled the issue of bursaries. If I heard the Minister right, he said that bursary money will come from the CDF. I have no quarrel with this arrangement because I will be able to double what my constituency was being allocated by the Ministry of Education. My constituency was being allocated Kshs1 million. I can double this amount to Kshs2 million and I think that will be sufficient for bursaries in my constituency. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}