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"speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
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"content": "Member of Parliament (MP) for Eldama Ravine, for the tenacity he has shown in trying to bring back on track this uniquely Kenyan development battle. I would like to say on the Floor of this House that other than Safaricom and M-Pesa, there could be no better known Kenyan brand like the CDF. I have been privileged to sit in this Committee for the eight years that I have served in this House, and I can tell you in those years, many countries of the world both from within and outside Africa have come to study and replicate this completely unique and very innovative Kenyan innovation. Hon. Deputy Speaker, as we debate the National Government Constituencies Development Fund Bill, which will succeed the Constituencies Development Fund Act, it is a good opportunity to pay tribute to the greatest son of Kenya from Nyandarua, my senior in the distinguished profession of engineering, the Hon. Sen. Muriuki Karue, who designed, perhaps as only engineers can do that, this uniquely and most effective grassroots development model, way back in 2002. Even the worst critics of CDF, and I have had an occasion to meet them in the eight years that I have been here, admit that in terms of attaining success rate, CDF has attained a minimum of 80 per cent all over the country. Anybody who has walked across this country - I have had a chance in the years that I have served in the Committee to walk across the landscape of Kenya - must have witnessed the glaring transformation that has been occasioned by CDF all over Kenya. I remember that about three years back, we went to Garsen Constituency in Tana River where we were told that for over 50 years before the advent of CDF, there was only one secondary school. But for the three years that CDF had been in place, Garsen had increased the number of secondary schools in that constituency more than fourfold. There are constituencies in this country which before the advent of CDF did not have a single girls secondary school, but with CDF, today the admission rates in schools, as has been alluded to by my Chairman, is all over the place. I, therefore, find it surprising that those who have chosen to criticize the uniquely Kenyan model have opted to take cover under legalese instead of admitting the earth-shaking impact it has had all over Kenya. Indeed - I can speak with authority - there is hardly any village in this country where you cannot see the footprints of CDF. I would, therefore, want to believe that it is a model that has worked so well. Of course, nothing in this world is perfect. Even the world that we leave in, created by the Almighty God, is not perfect. When something works like CDF has done, the way to go about it is to identify the weaknesses and rectify them instead of trying to literally throw away the baby with the bath water. If I were to identify one of the greatest weaknesses with the 2010 Constitution, it is its failure to provide explicitly for CDF and how it is to be disbursed. We were all infatuated with the belief that by going into the counties, we would be rolling out development to the grassroots. That maybe so, but today what have county governments become? I speak with authority and I have seen roads in my constituency which I opened and graded with less than a million shillings, today the county government can purport to re-grade those roads with Kshs5 to Kshs7 million. This is almost 10 times the cost. I have seen classrooms of Early Childhood Development Education (ECD) built in our constituencies by the county governments at a cost of Kshs.5million to Kshs7 million, whereas with CDF, we built the same classrooms with between Kshs400,000 and Kshs600,000. I want to argue here, and I think most Members will agree with me, that most county treasuries across Kenya are operated as personal treasuries for the governors and their County 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."
}