{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=160505","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=160503","results":[{"id":1623232,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1623232/?format=json","text_counter":4659,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Ndhiwa, ODM","speaker_title":"Hon. Martin Owino","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I rise to fully support the Budget Estimates for the year 2025/2026. I congratulate the Chairman for work well done. Reducing the fiscal deficit by 0.7 is not an easy task. I want to ask them to put their foot on the gas pedal because this is the right trajectory. I want to pick a few items here because the majority of items have been spoken about. I do not want to repeat. The sugar sector has received Ksh2 billion. Since I come from a sugar- growing area, this is a good thing. I just ask that it be oversighted well as the leases go on. Most of this should pay the existing debts. The lessors should not take over these factories with people's debt and fail to pay. I appeal to the farmers who are boycotting to take sugarcane, because they want their pay to note that this has been factored in, so please cooperate. The other issue is affordable housing. For us in rural settings, it is different from those in the town setting. The President has also envisioned food security. So, if a person has five children and they grow up, and he only has five acres of land, each takes one acre, and they are left with nowhere to farm. Affordable housing in rural settings will allow for more acres to be The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."},{"id":1623233,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1623233/?format=json","text_counter":4660,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Ndhiwa, ODM","speaker_title":"Hon. Martin Owino","speaker":null,"content":"allocated for food production, thereby achieving food security. I thank the President for that. If you fly over my area, you will see all sorts of houses spread all over. People have nowhere to farm. Having Ksh95 billion allocated, and I know Ndhiwa is included, is a great initiative. I thank the President for that. Before I proceed, I would like to thank the President for visiting our Constituency. For the first time, we received a President with a development agenda. We have the Gor Mahia Ring road, which will connect all seven wards. This Budget is fair and equitable. That is why we are commending this Committee. On the issue of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), the President came and launched these in the rural setting. Kudos to him because he follows the vision and makes sure things are done. Skilled training is the way to go for our children. This Committee put Ksh43.2 billion so that these kids can be skilled and even self-employ themselves. The issue of white-collar jobs is gone. The Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee is telling me it is about time, but I am passionate about TVETs. Dr Nyikal talked about the Primary Healthcare Fund and SHA. I want to speak to the public who are watching. Do not be fooled that SHA does not work. Those who spread that rumour have registered. If we pump this money into primary healthcare facilities, it will increase the availability of medicine, diagnostic equipment, and personnel. This will arrest disease progression due to poor management. Isolated cases, like the ones the Hon. Oundo mentioned, can be handled differently. The general picture is that SHA works, and we have testimonies from many people whose hospital bills have been cleared. On education, my constituency still has a teacher-to-student ratio of 1:80. Affirmative action should be implemented in areas with huge teacher to student ratio gaps. I thank the Committee for allocating Ksh5 billion to the blue economy. Our people depend on the lake. It has been underutilised for a long time. I hope this will help in improving the livelihoods of our people. In Ndhiwa, power connection is under 6 per cent. In other areas, it is 95-100 per cent. So, out of the Ksh63.4 billion, the ministry should use affirmative action. Lastly, the Budget cannot be beneficial to the public if the exchequer release is as low as 60-65 per cent. We appeal to the National Treasury to do better. We can allocate all this money, but if you only release a bit of it and we are implementing a programme-based itemised budget, we will not realise our goals. On the issue of the Equalisation Fund, I do not know who oversees its use. We appropriate funds, but we do not see what it does. That should be looked into. Overall, this is a good budget. I thank Hon. Atandi and his team. Let us oversee its implementation. If we do not, there will be no good implementation. It will be like a whitewash. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I yield and support the Budget."},{"id":1623234,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1623234/?format=json","text_counter":4661,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Peter Kaluma","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":null,"content":" Hon. Members, you are notified that this Motion has three allotted days. We are on the second allotted day following the pronouncement I made about one and a half hours ago. Do not worry about replying. Being a Motion allotted three days, the mover cannot reply today. The earliest the mover will reply is on the third day, which, in all likelihood, without extending the time, will be tomorrow. Next to be heard is Hon. Japheth Nyakundi."},{"id":1623235,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1623235/?format=json","text_counter":4662,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kitutu Chache North, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Japheth Nyakundi","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for this opportunity to add my voice to the Budget for the 2025/2026 Financial Year. First of all, I thank the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, Hon. Samuel Equity Atandi. I call him ‘equity’ because of the good job he has done of ensuring that every part of this country gets an equal share of the Budget. Hon. Temporary Speaker, this is a Budget of Ksh4.23 trillion. My attention has been drawn to the Ksh4.5 billion allocated to the education sector for the recruitment of intern The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."},{"id":1623236,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1623236/?format=json","text_counter":4663,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kitutu Chache North, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Japheth Nyakundi","speaker":null,"content":"teachers. I am cognisant of the fact that this is the first time this country will employ over 6,000 teachers to bridge the gap between the teacher and student ratio. The same is true in the security sector, where Ksh2 billion has been allocated to recruit young men and women to join the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF). For the last three years, we have not recruited any young people into the police force. This time around, money has been allocated in the Budget for the recruitment of about 10,000 of them. This clearly shows that the administration under President William Ruto is ready and willing to ensure that young people are given job opportunities, allowing them to serve their country and earn a living. The Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is a thorn in the flesh. The young men and women in the health sector operate under some weird circumstances. They strike each and every day. They demonstrate outside Parliament. I am a happy man today. As a Member of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, I assure them that we have allocated Ksh6 billion to facilitate their employment on a permanent and pensionable basis. So that they can earn a good salary and contribute to this country. I appreciate the good job that the Committee has done under the Ajira Digital Programme. Money has been allocated to employ 1,000 youths on a permanent and pensionable basis. Thus, this Budget considers the young people of this country. It will move this country forward. Another issue that brings me joy is the fertiliser subsidy. For the last two years, we have seen a lot of changes in agriculture since the subsidy on production was introduced. Currently, coffee prices have gone up from Ksh50 to Ksh150. We used to import a lot of sugar from other countries, but we have not imported even a tonne of sugar since last year. As the years go by, I assure our neighbours that they will be buying sugar from Kenya, which is a good thing. Therefore, this is a Budget with equity that will move this country forward. It will bring a lot of changes in this country. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute. I support the Motion."},{"id":1623237,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1623237/?format=json","text_counter":4664,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Peter Kaluma","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":null,"content":" Hon. Naomi Waqo. In the meantime, the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, approach Hon. Temporary Speaker."},{"id":1623238,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1623238/?format=json","text_counter":4665,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Hon. Samuel Atandi consulted with Hon. Temporary Speaker)"},{"id":1623239,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1623239/?format=json","text_counter":4666,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Marsabit County, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Naomi Waqo","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this important Motion on Consideration of the Budget Estimates for the Financial Year 2025/2026. Much has been said by Members. Before I proceed, I take this opportunity to congratulate the Chairman and Members of the Committee for their commitment and for coming up with such a good progressive Budget that gives Kenyans a lot of hope. I do not want to forget the past years that Hon. Ndindi Nyoro led this Committee, and the great work he did while serving as Chairman. I will move very quickly because of time. I want to highlight different areas that this Budget has given attention to. Education has been given Ksh700 billion, and parents are assured that the examination fees have been catered for. This has given hope to our education system. It clearly shows that this Government cares about the future of this country and our young people. Another critical area is the matter of identification cards and their distribution. For many years, most of us, especially those from Northern Kenya, have been marginalised due to vetting. We have some elderly people who are 80 years old and whose children have been educated. Their sons and daughters are working in Government offices, yet they have all been The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."},{"id":1623240,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1623240/?format=json","text_counter":4667,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Marsabit County, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. Naomi Waqo","speaker":null,"content":"denied identity cards. I appreciate the effort of our President, who has given this a lot of attention. For sure, we are happy because he has said that we should do away with the vetting. As a result, many people are now registering for their identity cards. It is my prayer that this process will proceed smoothly due to the budget allocation of Ksh 1.4 billion. It may not be enough due to high demand, but it will help. As we do this, I pray that the issue of mobility and sufficient personnel will be considered. So that they can run this process smoothly and effectively. Right now, they do not have enough personnel. The issue of operationalising administrative units has been allocated Ksh600 million. This is good but not enough. I pray that more administrative units will be created in areas that have been neglected in the past so that services can be brought closer to the people. Another critical area that has been considered is agriculture and health. We know that many people have suffered in the past because of health issues. With the Budget allocated, I am sure we will take care of our people. Ksh4.5 billion allocation to the county government is a good thing, and we are progressing. Additionally, there is the equitable share from the nationally raised revenue of Ksh 405 billion. This amount excludes additional allocations, both conditional and unconditional, which amount to Ksh 69.8 billion. Yes, devolution has done a lot of good. Many people have been employed, and numerous families have been sustained. There are great opportunities, and people are securing contracts, but we face challenges due to the pending bills. We must urge our counties to pay the pending bills and salaries on time and also ensure that they are good stewards of their resources. Many people speak of ghost workers in counties and even at the national level. We should eliminate ghost workers so that we can be accountable and make effective use of the resources God has entrusted to us. As we talk of the contracts at the county level, we must put a lot of attention on the special groups. This is because, most of the time, they are denied the opportunity. They register, but cartels do the businesses on their behalf. If we can push the county governments to give attention to special groups, people living with disability (PWDs), youth and women, then for sure this country will progress. This Budget gives Kenyans a lot of hope. The Government has allocated Ksh8 billion for the continuation of the fertiliser program, which has enabled us to produce good maise and other crops. Again, Ksh2 billion has been allocated to the Coffee Cherry Fund in support of coffee farmers. An additional Ksh5 billion has been allocated to support the dairy and livestock sector. I urge our Government that Ksh5 billion may not be enough. This is because we have a large number of pastoralists, and most of the time, we lose our animals during droughts. We need insurance for our animals and to develop effective ways to care for livestock and dairy products. This is a forward-looking budget that gives a lot of hope because of the money they have placed in Primary Health Care (PHC), about Ksh10 billion, where Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients, Tuberculosis (TB), malaria, and other sicknesses are well catered for. Ksh16.6 billion has been allocated to Universal Health Coverage (UHC) coordination, and Ksh10 billion has been set aside for support to the national immunisation effort. A few weeks ago, as women leaders, we met and were presented with the challenge of immunisation that our babies are facing as a result of the funding that was stopped. However, this has now been catered for. We are sure that this process will continue and we will have a healthy society. My only request is that we pay attention to the people who live in the rural areas so that they also benefit as those living in urban areas and cities. With those few remarks, I support and pray that Kenyans will grow through this."},{"id":1623241,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1623241/?format=json","text_counter":4668,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Peter Kaluma","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":null,"content":" Hon. (Dr) Naomi Wako, just before you conclude, there is the famous road His Excellency the President has been proposing for the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."}]}