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{
    "id": 457907,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/457907/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 183,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Limo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1915,
        "legal_name": "Joseph Kirui Limo",
        "slug": "joseph-kirui-limo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me the chance to contribute to this important debate. Today, we are making history in this country because we are empowering two important sections of our society – women and youth. We know that those are two key groups in our society which have not been empowered for a long time. So, these Regulations, which are going to govern the most important Fund that was promised by the Jubilee Government, are very important and we have to support them. It is important to note that the funding that was provided for women and youth before was very restrictive. The President and the Deputy President had good intentions in introducing that Fund, but we have seen that some of the provisions in these Regulations are restrictive. That is why we are committed to cleaning these Regulations. Even if they are not completely cleaned today, we are committed to doing so even in the future. One of the restrictive Regulations is Regulation 20. Even though Regulation 20 is amongst the ones you have said that are not admissible, I want to state clearly that the President and the Deputy President had promised women and the youth of this country that the Uwezo Fund will not attract any interest. Unfortunately, in the Regulation, a proposal has been sneaked in to unfairly charge the youth and the women 1 percentage interest. This will restrict them from accessing the funds, contrary to the President’s promise. I have consulted on this matter and I would like to say that I will move an amendment during the Committee of the whole House. I have even consulted our legal counsel. We are saying that this will not deter us from speaking on behalf of the youth and the women of this country. The Temporary Deputy Speaker, under Regulation 7, we are saying that the Kshs6 billion that was allocated to the Fund is not sustainable. There is no provision of enhancing the allocation to that Fund to ensure that women and the youth who may not access money from the Fund this year will get funding in the next years. I consulted the Legal Department and they agreed with me that we can bring a persuasive amendment. It is not an amendment that will say that we must appropriate. As Parliament, we are saying that we shall endeavour to appropriate. “Endeavour” does not mean that it is a must. So, I am sure that if it is read properly, you will consider your ruling and make it possible for us to consider appropriating more funds to this noble Fund on an annual basis. We are, therefore, pleading with you to reconsider your ruling to allow the House to consider the amendment. We have also seen in the Regulations that there is the restriction that youth and women groups interested in borrowing from the Fund must have registered, at least, six months before they present their application for funding. Counting six months before today means that the groups should have registered in April, just a month after the Jubilee Government came into being. So, it is not practical. Secondly, we are all aware that, for the last couple of months, there has been a problem in procuring certificates for purposes of registration of groups in this country. We are not sure whether this was done deliberately or it was due to inherent inefficiency in the relevant Government Department. So, we are saying that these Regulations must be amended to ensure that 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."
}