Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 250706,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/250706/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 238,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Muchiri",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 225,
        "legal_name": "Muchiri Geoffrey Gachara",
        "slug": "geoffrey-gachara"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support this Report. It calls for our support because the institution of the CDF has assisted the development of this country to a very large extent. The CDF has revolutionised the development agenda of this country. I would like to thank the President because he assented to the CDF Act when others had refused to do so. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Report talks about various matters, some relating to change of the law and policy. It looks like it was very carefully thought out by the Committee. I must thank the Committee and the Chairman for the good work they have done. The District Projects Committee (DPC) is a very important committee as far as the CDF is concerned. I would want to see the DPC working more to regulate and arbitrate matters relating to the CDF. I do not see the reason why people should rush to court when they have not reported matters to this particular committee or even the NMC. Therefore, this committee just like the Select Committee has recommended, should be retained in the Act. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we should disabuse the notion that has been portrayed that hon. Members can misappropriate the CDF funds. It is high time all and sundry, knew that most of these funds are sent to a project committee. That project committee is the one which should spend that money properly. The hon. Member is just a facilitator of these funds. He does not sign cheques. For it to be said that an hon. Member can misappropriate money, that is not good politics by those who propagate it in that direction. I support the idea of the committee that there should be a professional secretariat. I know we agreed that the NMC will be able to manage the funds, but we said that those who sit in that committee come from various institutions. However, we are also alive to the fact that they could also be politicians like we are. So, they could be doing power politics wherever they are. Maybe, as the Committee is suggesting, if we have a professional secretariat, it will go a long way in regulating the management of CDF and related matters. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support the idea of enhancing the percentage of CDF to 7.5 per cent. It is good for the public to know that the CDF money is just an equivalent of Kshs2 out of Kshs100. If somebody asked you to give him Kshs2.50 out of Kshs100, he is not asking too much. If he asks you to give Kshs7.50 out of Kshs100, that is really peanuts. I hope that the Government, through the Minister for Finance, will be able to look into this issue with a lot of sympathy for the people who benefit from these funds. The CDF has benefited all corners of this country. This is one thing that the NARC Government must be very proud of. The number of employment opportunities that the CDF has created is enormous. In Ndaragwa Constituency, for example, when we give money for the construction of a school or health centre, there are a lot of people who are employed for those projects to be completed. So, this has been a source of employment. I believe, if we did the mathematics properly, we have created a lot of employment through the CDF. The CDF funds are Government money. We, as hon. Members, will never claim that it is from our pockets. However, it is this Ninth Parliament that created the CDF. This is a very"
}