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{
    "id": 833357,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/833357/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 346,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) James Nyikal",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 434,
        "legal_name": "James Nyikal",
        "slug": "james-nyikal"
    },
    "content": "the seven constituencies in Nairobi, they have brought out a number of cross-cutting issues with regard to the NG – CDF. First and foremost, they have brought out very clearly the relationship between the MP and the management of the NG-CDF at the constituency level. There has been a lot of misconception about this and it has been used politically. It is now very clear through this Report. I wish this Report could be read by as many people as possible. It is the Committee Chair and the Fund Account Manager who bear the responsibility under mere guidance of the MP. That is extremely important. Many times when other institutions have fought the NG – CDF, it has been on the assumption that it is in some way directly benefiting the MP. The real beneficiaries are the people that are served at the constituency level. The other important point that is brought out is the issue of the bursaries. Many of us have experienced scenarios where you give out cheques and presume that they have reached the schools. There have been lots of ways of playing around with those cheques. The staff and the heads of the schools play around with the cheques. They even allocate the cheques to other students. If the recommendation that this should be an electronic transfer is approved, that would be extremely important. It is something we see across the board. Compliance with the required standards is automatic. It applies to the management of the NG – CDF Board. The managers need to comply with the law and the standards as they are. They brought out another important point related to the records at the project management committees. Some fund managers think that it is the responsibility of the project management committees. Therefore, they leave the records there. It is still the responsibility of the fund managers to make sure that those records are available and where necessary, are transported to the auditors in time. In this case, they will be made available to this committee. That is an extremely important thing. Those records are needed. This is because all the good work that the NG – CDF has done is through the project management committees which have lifted community participation to a higher level in the management of the NG-CDF. They also raised the issue of reallocation. It is important that once funds are allocated to a project, they go to that project in that year. However, there are some times when it is necessary to reallocate the funds. In that case, they have to make a request. The Committee recommended that the board in Nairobi should quickly respond to the request so that this allocation does not raise audit queries later. They also raised the issue of delay of disbursement. This is extremely important. Going into the records, you will find that in some constituencies, there are funds even for the last two years that have not been disbursed. That should not be. Moreover, there is some money which has not gone to the board. They worked out that amount and I agree with them. This money should be disbursed to the constituencies. The National Treasury should disburse this money to the board and they should distribute it to the constituencies. The limit of Kshs10 million is restrictive. These are not funds that you take back to the National Treasury. There is no reason why they should be limited. It is better that as the year ends, you have your money in the constituency. I have two last points. One is the overworking of the Fund Account Manager. You find many of them covering more than one constituency. There are some who are designated as regional coordinators while at the same time they manage an individual constituency. I have found that they are distracted. A lot of time is spent out there. The idea of regional coordination is good but it would be important if we would have regional offices with officers who are assigned that job and not an officer from one constituency. That is an extremely important point. 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."
}