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"id": 406864,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Keter",
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"speaker": {
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"legal_name": "Charles Cheruiyot Keter",
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"content": "I will second and the other Members can make their contributions. In seconding this Motion, I would like to say that this is a very important Fund. This is a Fund that has been long awaited. It is a Fund that the Jubilee Government promised to give in their manifesto. They said that they would set aside funding for our women and our youth. Many of the regulations that will govern this Fund are very important. The only problem I want to emphasise is that this Fund must be managed in a different way. It should not be managed the way the Women Enterprise Development or the Youth Enterprise Development Funds were managed. I remember, during the last Parliament, that our constituencies were being given Kshs1 million. If a constituency wanted more money, that money would be channeled through the banks and the amounts did not reach the intended beneficiaries. So, I am very grateful that the formula that has been used is the same one that is used under the CDF. That means that 75 per cent is shared equally while 25 per cent is shared on the index of the population and poverty, among other things. That means that 95 per cent of the money will get down to the grassroots level. My worry was; how do we manage it? If you do not put down proper regulations, the first groups like the women groups that will benefit between the ranges of Kshs100, 000 to Kshs500, 000 may be unable to repay. In that case, who will follow them so that other groups can also benefit? If a constituency is given this money and is managed by the Uwezo Constituency Fund, I do not think they will have the capacity to run it. These are members who will be appointed the same way that the CDF members are appointed. The CDF does not support recurrent expenditure but development. If you put about Kshs1 million to a school, you should not expect any returns. The auditors only go round to inspect whether the school was built or not. This is money that should be returned to the account. It is good to have that clarification right now. The membership of the constituency should be represented in the Fund. I do not think these groups will have the mandate to follow and see the benefits. However, it is good that the Chairman has brought in an amendment to see that proper regulations and guidelines are followed so that this is not a one-off thing. This should also be a recurrent Fund so that women and the youth can benefit. We do not want to see this Fund fail. I have seen many amendments that were done by the National Assembly so that the Fund is similar to the CDF. It says that the Member of Parliament will nominate three members and the other members will come from other areas. I have no problem with the membership. That can be dealt with. However, the parent membership must take responsibility so that come next year, the end of the financial year, when questions are asked, with regard to how many groups benefited from the Kshs6 billion, somebody should take responsibility and say that there are about 1,000 groups that benefited in Kericho County. We should also know the repayment period because we may only be rushing to have regulations. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate Members of Parliament now have another Fund besides the CDF. They now have the Uwezo Fund to manage. They also have a responsibility to manage their parliamentary work in Nairobi. They are not in Nairobi to supervise how the money is repaid. That is a problem. I remember one day saying that the regulations must be firm so that this is not a failure to the Government. At least, the Chairman has said that the Committee will bring some amendments to make strict regulations. With regard to capacity building, my worry is that before this money is given, people must be taught how to use it. If a constituency is given Uwezo Fund and they do not know the concept of table banking, who will capacity build them? We should go by what the Chair is saying. We should bring an amendment so that the Fund is centralized in the county. If a county does not have the necessary people to give guidance, then they should get these people from other counties. When I was the Member for Belgut, we started the table banking concept which is very good. I want to ask Members to take a keen interest on it. You will find women doing business. You do not find women asking for school fees because they can pay it. It reached a point when men would ask, what about us and I told them, once school fees has been paid and your clothes have been washed, what else do you need as a man? You should just go round and do your own things. This is a good concept. We started it at zero. A woman who has Kshs50 can do business. The Kshs50 under the model of table banking, with about 10 to 15 members in a week, has a pattern that it follows. There is a pattern that they follow. In my constituency, there is a group that has transformed the lives of many people who used to take alcohol. They were drunkards but are now making a lot of money. Their children are now going to school. This is a very crucial Fund. If it is managed properly, it will transform where we come from. The table banking concept has gone beyond Belgut constituency because it is now within Kericho County. We started at zero but we are now revolving over Kshs200 million. This is the money with the women there. So, today, another constituency can also develop to run the millions. In future, working as a representative of the people will be very easy because we will carry out our role as policy makers while our constituencies will be very rich. I do not think that any of us would like to represent a constituency that is poor. Therefore, this is a model that we need to take a keen interest in. I urge Members, tomorrow during the Committee Stage, that this will be very crucial. The amendments we will make should be good and I have seen one. The National Assembly deleted the part that required a chief to sign forms. My worry is; if there is a defaulter in a group, while the beneficiary is the group that has registered – some lie about the villages that they come from – if they just share the money among themselves, who will follow them? Stringent measures must be put in place. Otherwise, it will be very hard to implement. At the same time, if implemented very well, it is one of the funds that will assist this country to move forward. I do not want to say much. I support this Motion. Tomorrow, we will make the necessary amendments and pass it. On Thursday, we will pass it and the National Assembly can also pass it so that the Fund is operationalised as soon as possible. With those very many remarks, I beg to second. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}