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"content": "911 using the money in accordance with Government financial regulations. Most of us, as hon. Members, and even the people we employ, may not be familiar with Government financial procedures. It is, therefore, of importance that we retain Government officers who help us to spend the money in accordance with the procedures that are obtaining. They will also enable us to maintain a certain level of transparency. I am a bit concerned with the proposal that the CDF buys machinery. It is well intentioned. Many areas do not have good roads. Therefore, to many hon. Members, buying a grader becomes an attractive option. Others may think that it is a good idea to buy a vehicle. However, one question that is disturbing me is: If this is a CDF, is it a good idea to introduce a large chunk of Recurrent Expenditure on a Development Fund? Are we not replicating Government Ministries? Are we not replicating what we see as the bureaucracy of the Executive? The money allocated, sometimes, does not show results because almost 70 per cent of the Government Budget is actually Recurrent Expenditure. Only a very small portion goes to development. If we do not watch it, we will very soon make the CDF resemble the Government structures where most of the expenditure goes into salaries and maintenance. We should avoid this and I am expecting that when it comes to the time of the Bill, as hon. Members, we will not only embrace the work of this Committee but also assist them in refining the proposed amendments so that we protect the development core mandate of the CDF. We should not mix it with Recurrent Expenditure. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if I were to buy a grader for Gichugu Constituency - I will not do so - however, if I were to entertain the idea, I would not only use about Kshs14 million to buy but I also have to employ someone to operate it. I will also need to have a maintenance fund. I would go into issues of fuel; I will have to worry where it is stored and whether it is safe. If I were to buy a vehicle for the constituency, all those issues will arise and depending on how well the vehicle is used, I may use twice the amount of money I have used to buy the vehicle, on maintenance only. Our people have a very bad habit, all of us, of misusing and mishandling Government property, especially vehicles and machinery. Until we change that mentality, even for the Government, I am very happy that the Minister for Finance and the Ministry is considering changing the policy on use of Government vehicles. These are the areas that we are losing money from. I would like to urge hon. Members, I included, to sit and dialogue and critically look at what we want CDF to be. If we want it to be truly development, let us very cautiously embrace issues that can become Recurrent Expenditure and which are going to lead us away from our core mandate. The other point I would like to make is that if, for instance, we were all to buy graders, and the next year we all buy drilling rigs, are we competing with the core mandate of the Ministry of Roads and Public Works and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation? In my view, we are supposed to use our funds on the areas where the Government is not reaching or reaching fast enough. Let us, as the pioneers of CDF, look at all these issues critically and then we pass the amendment. I am supporting the spirit of this Motion before the House but it is our duty to further refine the proposals for amending the CDF Act so that we do not fall into traps while trying to assist ourselves. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue I would like to put forward is that when we discuss how much of the Budget we should take to the CDF - we are all interested in as much as we can because we all have constituencies to think about - I would like to urge my colleague, the Minister for Finance, to take time and take us through the relevant Departmental Committee or together as hon. Members, get to know the monies available, how they are allocated and how much can be available as additional to CDF. Unless the accounts are made bare to hon. Members, we may be at cross-proposes when negotiating the amount that should be utilised as CDF. As hon. Members, we are managers of this great country. It is, therefore, incumbent upon us 912"
}