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{
    "id": 797873,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/797873/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 247,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Constituency Development Fund (CDF). Now, people just sit down and divide 2.5 per cent by 290 assuming that all of us have the same conditions. You will find that a small constituency in Nairobi gets the same amount of the National-Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) as North Horr which is the biggest constituency in this country covering 40,000 square kilometres. That is lack of objectivity. As Kenyans we have to look at it so that whatever we do goes a long way in creating unity and a sense of nationhood in this country, so that we all feel we belong to this country. I now want to talk about the Roads Fund. Whatever is there for road maintenance is divided equally by the number of constituencies. The road network of a constituency here in Nairobi could not be the same as that of the big constituency in my county called North Horr. We lack objectivity when we try to cure some of our own creations called marginalisation. It is good that the President brought it out and talked about what is being done but there is a lot which needs to be done so that we get to a level where we feel comfortable. We should think of being people of one country where we share whatever resources that we have equitably. Concerning the issue of bringing services closer to the people, the President stated that we have the Huduma Centres. This is a very good initiative and we thank the Government for having done that. However, when you bring services closer to the people, it is always good to take them as close as possible. I represent a county with centres like Ileret which is about 600 kilometres from Marsabit Town. The Huduma Centre is based in Marsabit Town. How does it assist that person who is 600 kilometres from the huduma centre? I think there must be objectivity in what we do. Let us take these things as close as possible. They can even be taken to ward headquarters. The other day I went to a county whose size is 1300 square kilometres and I was surprised. I come from a ward which is 7,000 square kilometres. So, we have to take into account the element of space when we take services closer to the people. Of course everybody is crying about birth certificates. We have registrars of persons who deal with the issuance of identification cards and they are based at the sub- county levels. Why could the same service not be used to issue birth certificates? There are things we have to look at when we come up with policies. The other important issue that the President touched on is the economy. It is true that the Government is doing a lot. It realised that we have to do infrastructure development to attract investment. The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is a good idea and I am sure with its extension towards Naivasha and beyond, we will improve the movement of goods and services. The only thing I would like to comment about the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is that the other day when we had discussions with the manager of the airport, it came out that there is a reduction in transit passengers via JKIA. We are improving the infrastructure but they put other bottlenecks like charging passengers who pass through JKIA and that is why the traffic is going to Addis Ababa and Johannesburg because they do not charge what we charge. So, we also have to make good use of the infrastructure. Instead we build them and put bottlenecks and, consequently, they become ineffective and costly projects for us. 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"
}