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{
    "id": 832470,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/832470/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 871,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Gatanga, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Joseph Nduati",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13338,
        "legal_name": "Joseph Nduati Ngugi",
        "slug": "joseph-nduati-ngugi-2"
    },
    "content": "On the NG-CDF, it is one of the best models we have in this country. When it comes to execution of projects, before you do it, the money is there. I wish the national Government was also doing the same. In this country, many projects that have been executed by the national Government have stalled because of lack of planning. A Government body can give a contractor a job knowing very well that there are no funds. With the NG-CDF, we are very lucky. When you are executing a project, you must make provision for money. The other good thing about the NG-CDF is that those jobs are executed by the local people and we use local materials. When it comes to the national Government, we have seen huge contracts being given to the Chinese, where there is no local labour and the local materials are not used. That is why many Kenyans are complaining. I urge the national Government to borrow from this. These projects are executed by local contractors and supervised by local people, providing a good platform where we can promote the local people. We are complaining that our youth do not have jobs. I want to encourage the Government to increase the NG-CDF money. This will go a long way in helping the Members of Parliament and the local people to create jobs. We have also seen that the Government is facing a very huge challenge. They have opened up new Technical and Vocational Educational Training (TVET) colleges and polytechnics, which the youth are refusing to join because they have realised that most of the money the Government is using is not going to the local people. That money goes towards benefitting the Chinese. In the new colleges that the Government has opened, they say that they have 500,000 vacancies, but the intake is only 25,000. This is because our youth can see the Government is not ready to assist them. So, I want to urge the National Treasury to see what they can do. With the 290 constituencies, that money can be spread across the country. On Fund Account Managers, most of the ones we have are not well trained. I would urge the NG-CDF Board to do something. Their accounting skills are very poor. When it comes to execution of works, I urge the NG-CDF to use the facilities at the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Urban Development, where we have standard drawings for schools and police stations. That way, when it comes to execution of jobs on the ground, there will be no problems. I know the NG-CDF Act allows for the employment of a clerk-of-works, but the amount provided is very little. If you were to use about Kshs50 million, a clerk-of-works is a very important person. It is high time the NG-CDF Board assisted us to employ qualified clerks-of- works. Qualified clerks-of-works can be trained to provide accounting services. You do not need to be an accountant. I think what we need is somebody who is trained in technical skills to help us in executing the projects. When it comes to disbursement of money, it really delays. In my constituency, we received the funds for the last quarter very late. We have already advertised for the jobs. I would urge the board and the Treasury to work together so that the funds can be released in good time to assist us in the timely delivery of projects. When you delay the release of funds, costs of materials and labour go up, so that where you would do a class at Kshs1 million, you end up spending Kshs1.2 million. That is why you find Kenyans complaining sometimes that we do shoddy work. Sometimes it is not the Fund Account Manager to blame. It is normally because of the money being released late. So, I urge the board to work very closely with the Treasury to see that funds are released on time. When it comes to visibility of NG-CDF projects in constituencies, there is no doubt they are the most visible. I have not seen in my constituency what the national Government is doing. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}