HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 976547,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/976547/?format=api",
"text_counter": 309,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mavoko, WDM – K",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Patrick Makau",
"speaker": {
"id": 2328,
"legal_name": "Patrick Makau King'ola",
"slug": "patrick-makau-kingola"
},
"content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I agree with Members, particularly the first time MPs, about the Uwezo Fund. I know there was no transition from the former MPs that they won against. As I stand here, I must say that last year, Mavoko Constituency stood up. We were number two in the whole country, in terms of disbursement of Uwezo Fund. To date, I have given cheques six times: In 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. Members do not understand that Uwezo Fund receives Kshs1,080,000 per year. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, if you allow me, I will highlight how the funds are allocated so that they can know that their Uwezo Fund Committee is supposed to earn allowances and sitting allowances. Every year, Uwezo Fund is given the following monies: Communication Supplies and Services - Kshs15,000; Mobile Phones- Kshs10,000; Courier and Postal Services- Kshs5,000; Domestic Travel - Kshs100,000; Travel Costs - Kshs30,000; Daily Subsistence Allowance – Kshs.90,000; Training Expenses - Khs100,000; Hire of Training Facilities - Kshs30,000; Hospitality Supplies and Services - Kshs230,000; Boards, Committees, Conferences and Seminars - Kshs220,000; Catering Services - Kshs100,000; Office and General Supplies and Services - Kshs15,000; General Office Supplies (Papers, Pencils et cetera ) - Kshs10,000; Supplies and Accessories (Computers and Printers) - Kshs5,000; Fuel, Oil and Lubricants - Kshs20,000; Refined Fuels and Applicants - Kshs20,000; Other Operational Expenses - Kshs10,000; and Bank Charges- Kshs10,000 Hon. Deputy Speaker, the total amount of money that Uwezo Fund receives for half a year is Kshs540,000. So, the whole year, the Fund receives Kshs1,080,000. Some money has been set aside for the committee and the oversight board that you have elected. In our constituencies, an MP is supposed to give one representative per ward and then the Woman Representative gives three. So, the minimum number of committee members is 12, depending with the number of wards in that constituency. Therefore, if this committee is facilitated well - and that is what we have been doing in Mavoko – it will move around the wards to monitor and supervise the groups that have taken the money. Some Members have said that the Fund has been subject to fraud. There are only three signatories: The District Accountant, the NG–CDF Manager and the Youth Representative. There is a lacuna because nobody from the ward or the Woman’s Representative is supposed to be a signatory. Sometimes, if you have a committee that is not very vigilant or careful, those Government officers will misuse their allowances, travel and training. However, if you are keen as a Member of Parliament and you ask for meetings with three of those signatories, everything will be alright. Secondly, I have heard MPs complain that men have been sidelined. The Uwezo Fund and any other fund allow 30 per cent of men to join women groups so that they can enjoy the facility. However, if you are a man in a women group, the only thing you will not enjoy is being a signatory in that group. Even men can join women groups and enjoy the facilities of the Uwezo Fund. Thirdly, I know some Members in the last Parliament encouraged their group members to keep the money or not to repay it as a reward or a campaign tool. There are some groups in my constituency who qualify for loans amounting to Kshs500,000 or Kshs1 million. To date, we have managed to roll out Kshs55 million from the original Kshs16 million that we were given by encouraging the groups to pay back. If, for example, you started with Kshs50,000, if you repay, 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."
}