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{
    "id": 861713,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/861713/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 227,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kibwezi West, Independent",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Patrick Musimba",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1804,
        "legal_name": "Patrick Mweu Musimba",
        "slug": "patrick-mweu-musimba"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I want to contribute to this Motion on the Report by the Committee. I agree with the Committee as far as talking about option is concerned. But the backdrop of this initiative was that we are as a country still combated by a heavy load or challenge of unemployment among our youths. The digital dispensation is, indeed, a big reality for this Republic. Even now as we are going through the Blue Ocean Economy Conference, this is one of the realities in terms of geospatial planning. It must become a priority for the Committee as we move forward. That is to be able to steer our national development in a particular format, more importantly, the placement of the skill set for our people. It is very important to capture what aspirations lie within. The same way, at the tail end of the last Parliament, this House sacrificed within itself and budgeted for the implementation of the free secondary education programme. We took a cut on our NG-CDF to bolster His Excellency the President’s campaign on accessibility and transition from primary to secondary schools. This is still the basis of allowing constituencies to champion the broad connectivity programmes of the country. Kenya has already invested heavily in the provision of the fibre optic programme. It has gone throughout this country into every district hub. It is in a bid to, one, bring down the cost of connectivity associated with travel – one Hon. Member highlighted in his communication about what was captured by the Auditor- General (AG) from his constituency in terms of communicating information across to the relevant stakeholders who he was trying to reach out to. At its very least, these connectivity hubs are cutting down the cost of communication and data provision for our people. It is for communicating, among other things, what we are doing in the constituencies. If you take Kibwezi West, for instance, it is 2100 square kilometres. It is quite a vast distance. Much will be achieved through the enablement of these hubs. We have already undertaken to do four which are already up and operational. We are doing another 10 in this financial year. I would have so much hoped that the Committee would have considered visiting our constituency as they are tabling this Report. Be that as it may, it is still open to Members to come and see the experience that these hubs have provided and will continue to provide, more importantly when we are targeting the Ajira Programme, which is a noble idea. As I said, employment remains a challenge amongst our youth. To mobilise them for formidable training that will result into getting them livelihoods is an odious task. We do not have that flexibility when it comes to NG-CDF. The Ajira Programme provides opportunity so that you have a possibility of having over 1,000 youths being trained within a constituency. With them trained, they immediately have access to the global economy which exists in the knowledge economy that will provide hard earned money. It becomes a new frontier, other than just Diaspora earnings or our traditional sectors such as coffee, tea and our other export values it brings in hard currency into this great Republic. There are also questions of learning across our constituencies. We always talk about benchmarking. With the inception of these hubs, we can do digital tours and communication; point to point communication within ourselves and share experiences as to how we are conducting our trainings. 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."
}