William Kamket Kassait

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 251 to 260 of 401.

• 13 Nov 2019 in National Assembly: In the Constitution, the Fund is supposed to provide for basic services including water, roads, health facilities and electricity to the marginalised areas. The idea is to bring the quality of services in those areas to the level enjoyed by the rest of the nation. At this point, it is important to stress and emphasise that the Constitution talks about marginalised areas. It does not talk about marginalised counties. If I may refer to Article 204 of the Constitution, it states: view
• 13 Nov 2019 in National Assembly: “(2) The national government shall use the Equalisation Fund only to provide basic services including water, roads, health facilities and electricity to marginalised areas to the extent necessary to bring the quality of those services in those areas to the level generally enjoyed by the rest of the nation, so far as possible.” view
• 13 Nov 2019 in National Assembly: I am saying this because there has been a bit of confusion and misunderstanding arising from the first marginalization policy that was created by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA). Although that policy has expired, it identified 14 counties as marginalised. But the Constitution talks about marginalised areas and not marginalised counties. I am happy that the current policy developed by the CRA has now been adopted and identifies sub-locations as the lowest unit of deprivation. Therefore, this has resulted in the current 114 constituencies that will be direct beneficiaries of the Fund when it is implemented properly. view
• 13 Nov 2019 in National Assembly: It is instructive to note that development in Kenya is hinged on the Vision 2030 and its medium-term plans. Prior to the current development plan in 1965, planning was guided by Sessional Paper No.10 on African Socialism and its application to planning in Kenya. This policy concentrated on the potential areas and neglected the less potential areas of the country and, hence, the current skewed scenario in the distribution of services. Going forward, the country has tried to address this issue through the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF), Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF), Community Development Trust Fund (CDTF) and ... view
• 13 Nov 2019 in National Assembly: Therefore, the Equalisation Fund Bill 2019 seeks to operationalise it as established under Article 204. Something to note as I speak to this Bill is that the Council of Governors (CoG) went to court to challenge the guidelines that were made by the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for the National Treasury to operationalise that Fund. I am aware that the court has pronounced itself on those guidelines. Even as I move this Bill, those guidelines have been quashed. Therefore, this Bill comes at the right time when there is the confusion about the guidelines and about the The electronic version of ... view
• 13 Nov 2019 in National Assembly: formula on how to implement the Equalisation Fund as provided for in the Constitution. I am aware that in that judgement, there is an error. I am also aware that there is a notice of appeal that has been done by the Attorney-General on some sections of the judgement that tries to revert the utilization of the Fund to the counties as provided for in the former policy. This Bill tries to simplify matters. The first characteristic of this Bill is to create a national board that is independent of the National Treasury. The Board shall consist of Kenyans appointed ... view
• 13 Nov 2019 in National Assembly: Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for that protection. This Bill, therefore, seeks to make it easy and to cure the problem of the top- bottom approach and brings the bottom-up approach, which is the most important formula in terms of dealing with the citizens of the Republic. view
• 13 Nov 2019 in National Assembly: As I said earlier, the Fund is a special purpose vehicle which was put in the Constitution by the framers of our Constitution as a catch-up fund. I am happy the framers of the Constitution are here with us. Therefore, it does not make sense that we have such an important Fund that is supposed to help Kenyans come to the level of others who have moved ahead of them and then it is tied up by bureaucracy in offices and Kenyans are not able to benefit from it. view
• 13 Nov 2019 in National Assembly: The monies that are paid out of the Equalisation Fund through the Appropriations Act have not had that great impact on the marginalised areas as envisaged. Therefore, this Bill will ensure that the Fund achieves its purpose by bringing services as closer to the people as possible. As provided for under Article 204 of the Constitution, the Equalisation Fund has a timeline of 20 years. It is already almost nine years after the promulgation of the Constitution. I am aware there is a provision that Parliament can amend that to extend time. However, even before we reach that time of ... view
• 13 Nov 2019 in National Assembly: As I conclude, we have had issues in this country. I am very emotional this morning as I move this Bill. This is because there are some sections of this society that have been left behind as the savage backwood of society. One of those regions is the constituency that I represent. The children of Tiaty, northern Kenya, Turkana and Samburu were not supposed to be born and end 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. view