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{
    "id": 438692,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/438692/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 196,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Otucho",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 12837,
        "legal_name": "Mary Emaase Otuch",
        "slug": "mary-emaase-otuch"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Speaker. First and foremost, I want to appreciate the Members of the Budget and Appropriations Committee under the leadership of hon. Mutava Musyimi for their dedication and commitment. We had to sacrifice all other responsibilities and work tirelessly to ensure that we conclude the budget process within the timelines. I also want to commend all other Departmental Committees for the good work they did. In particular, I want to single out the Departmental Committee on Finance and Planning which was able to generate a total of Kshs5.71billion which was later reallocated within the sectors to more needy departments like tourism, CDF and other areas. In reallocating the resources as earlier alluded to by the Chairperson, we were guided by the needs of Kenyans and the commitment of this nation towards achieving Vision 2030; aligning our goals to the Constitution and also conforming to the Jubilee Manifesto. I would like to comment on several sectors as far as the reallocations are concerned. I would like to start with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Hon. Members from where we sit, you will agree with me that the education sector is very critical as far as the development of this nation is concerned. We all understand the deplorable condition of infrastructure in most of our primary and secondary schools. It is in that respect that the Budget and Appropriations Committee recommended the enhancement of the CDF. Most of the enhancements are going to improve the infrastructure in schools. You will recall that in the Budget Policy Statement (BPS), this House resolved that the figure for CDF would be enhanced to Kshs35 billion. However, in the Estimates that we received, this figure had been reduced to Kshs27 billion. Hon. Members, I would urge all of you to support the position that this Committee has renegotiated with National Treasury because we managed to enhance the figure for CDF to Kshs33 billion. There is also an additional Kshs243 million which had been allocated earlier to the Department of Education for purposes of improving infrastructure, which we felt it is better included in the CDF allocation because when you look at the kind of development that the CDF has done, you will agree with me that they are tangible. The development range from educational to health in terms of clinics and dispensaries. The security roads that have been constructed and the provision of water is a confirmation that CDF has done a lot as far as development is concerned. Hon. Members, when you look at the budget for the Ministry of Health, there is a recommendation that has been made by the Senate, and that is contrary to the Resolution of this House with regard to the recommendation by the Budget and Appropriations Committee on a conditional allocation to the tune of Kshs3.74 billion that was ring-fenced and meant to go towards improving Level 5 hospitals. You will realize that now we have a stalemate. They are recommending that the national Government should set aside additional resources from the Kshs799.65 billion which is the national share of the budget towards improvement of the Level 5 hospitals. Our position as the Budget and Appropriations Committee is that those resources must come from the county allocation because that was our recommendation. We are over-stretched and we may not be able to get those resources from the national Government allocation. On the issue of security, this House resolved to give the security sector a total of Kshs15.44 billion. We, again, noticed several deviations from the Budget Policy The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}