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{
    "id": 875934,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/875934/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 257,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tharaka, DP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. George Gitonga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13491,
        "legal_name": "George Gitonga Murugara",
        "slug": "george-gitonga-murugara"
    },
    "content": "Kisumu. I thank the Committee for having worked on this immediately after working on Nairobi. We hope soon they will reach my county of Tharaka Nithi. We would also like to have our accounts audited and brought to this House so that Kenyans can know what exactly we are doing. I do not think that we can overemphasise the very positive impact the NG-CDF has had on lives of ordinary Kenyans in the constituencies. In fact, it is the NG-CDF whose development has been felt most as far as the rural areas are concerned. We cannot write home about counties because every time they have queries which have to be answered on how they use their money. Even now, it is the NG-CDF which has disbursed bursaries to students in secondary schools, tertiary colleges and universities. Counties are yet to do it. I am almost sure that they do have the money, but this has not been released. It is very important that this House looks at the mandate of the NG-CDF under the Act. We need to sit down, look at both the NG-CDF Act and the PFM Act to expand on the scope of what the NG-CDF can do apart from the three known areas of security, education and a little bit of sports. We need to go back to where it used to be before 2015 when the NG-CDF was actually working on roads. It was constructing bridges and installing electricity. We also need to move the percentage from the 2.5 per cent to 5 to 10 per cent because this money is budgeted for in a formulated manner. It is actually implemented in one of the best structures that are set by the national Government. I also think we need to implore the Government, especially the National Treasury, to disburse this money quickly so that we can use it. For this financial year, what we have so far received is Sh10 million that came in December. I am informed that another Sh12 million may have come in yesterday. That is all from all the allocation of slightly more than Sh100 million that each constituency is supposed to use this financial year. This is only Sh22 million. We still have over Sh88 million out there, which must be disbursed this year for proper use and accounting by the various constituencies. It is, therefore, important that the Treasury disburses this money quickly so that we are able to put it into use. It goes without saying that in most constituencies in this country, the NG-CDF is actually very well used. We receive those reports here, we go through them and we confirm that money has been properly used. Members of Parliament only play oversight role. They sit with the oversight committee and do not allocate money. Therefore, it is wrong for anyone to go out into the constituency to say that an MP has stolen or misused the money because MPs do not come into contact with the NG- CDF. Those funds are solely under the control of the Constituencies Development Fund Committee (CDFC) under the management of the fund manager who is the CEO. In those circumstances, we would require the board which is at the national level to be streamlined. There is a CEO who has been confirmed and given the mandate to discharge his duties unabated. The reason we say so is that a person in an acting capacity is never sure of what or what not to do. The NG-CDF is very important. We must at all times as MPs support it and emphasise that we get that money on time. We must also come together as MPs and if we can, amend the law so that we allocate more money for more work in terms of what the NG-CDF can do and not in the few areas that have a very little allocation as far as this is concerned. Initially, Kshs150 million or Kshs160 million would be allocated to a constituency for the NG-CDF. Today, the amount allocated is paltry. It is not above Kshs100 million. The competing interest requires that we get more of this money. This is the only money that 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."
}