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{
    "id": 686749,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/686749/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 210,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Lessonet",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 67,
        "legal_name": "Moses Lessonet",
        "slug": "moses-lessonet"
    },
    "content": "university or a referral hospital, those are areas of focus of the NG-CDF. That is the more reason we want to share these monies equally amongst the 290 constituencies. This Bill was motivated by a recent court ruling which only allowed the NG-CDF to access an amount not exceeding Kshs25 billion. If we were to calculate the allocations using the former formula, the least amount that a constituency would get is around Kshs55 million while the highest amount is Kshs134 million. The reason as to why we want to start sharing the Kshs25 billion equally is so that each constituency in Kenya can get at least Kshs81million, taking note that this House is still working on a formula for sharing the Kshs10 billion that the court chose to withhold. The NG-CDF Board has already launched an appeal with the Court of Appeal. We are appealing for the release of the Kshs10 billion. This House will also have a role to play on the disbursement of the Ksh10 billion once the matter is concluded by the Court of Appeal. I would like to inform Members that the National Treasury has been very good to the NG-CDF. They successfully released the sum of Kshs35, 213,000,000 that was voted for the NG-CDF during the 2015/2016 Financial Year. By the closure of the last financial year, the entire amount had been released to the NG-CDF Board. As of last week, the last tranche of Kshs3.8 billion had been released to the constituencies. I would like to inform Members that there are arrears for previous years totalling to Kshs4.9 billion, which the National Treasury is withholding. That figure is not in dispute. We are in touch with the National Treasury on what needs to do between now and December so that the National Treasury can source for that money through the Supplementary Budget. Although the Kshs35 billion for the last financial year has been disbursed in full, there is still a shortfall of Kshs4.9 billion in respect of previous years. The constituencies which are supposed to benefit from that money have been anxiously waiting for it. I also appreciate the fact that the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has moved from the G- payment system – which is a manual system of payment – to an internet-based system. The process was accomplished last week and the disbursements were promptly done. Going forward, disbursement from the Board to the constituencies will be very fast. It will not be taking long like before. For instance, we were not able to disburse any money in the entire month of July because of the shift from the G-payment system to the internet-based system. Just to clarify further, I want to inform Members that there is no CDF money for any constituency other than Balambala that was affected by closure of Chase Bank. Balambala constituency had a little money in Chase Bank. None of the 289 constituencies was banking with Chase Bank. Therefore, there is no money for any constituency which is stuck in Chase Bank. For avoidance of doubt, disbursement from the CDF Board to the constituencies is not channelled through any other commercial bank. It is done directly by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to the benefiting constituency, irrespective of which bank a constituency banks with. The NG-CDF Board keeps 5 per cent of the money for administrative purposes. Apart from the 5 per cent entitlement, they had Kshs300 million in a fixed deposit at Chase Bank. We all knew Chase Bank to be a very good bank until recently. We are happy about the systems that have been put in place to ensure that the bank becomes fully operation. It is only Kshs300 million for the CDF Board that is stuck at Chase Bank. If we were to look at all the state corporations whose money was withheld at Chase Bank, the amounts will be in billions of shillings. I beg my colleagues to support this Bill so that by next week we can table the schedule showing the allocation for each constituency. Thereafter, constituencies can bring in their proposals. There are people and civil society organisations who always taken us to court. You know them. We invited all of them, including the Institute of Social Accountability. They have taken 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."
}