Kenya Medical Training College, Awendo Campus, a project of Awendo Constituency 2022 Development Fund.
The parliamentary committee on National Government Constituency Development Fund has proposed myriad of changes that if implemented, will ensure the effectiveness of the fund in Kenya.
Led by Moses Sirma, the national chairperson for the NG-CDF during an assessment of the projects in Awendo Constituency, the changes will ensure that the funds are used in the most deserving projects.
According to the Eldama Ravine Member of Parliament, the funds have mostly been allocated for bursaries leaving aside, other development projects meant to be funded by the same.
“We have not been able to do much because the funds have on most occasions been used to fund students’ education through bursaries,” said Sirma.
Sirma who referred to the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Institutions (TVETs) that have been funded by NG-CDF called for partnership between the County and national governments.
The Parliamentary Committee also said that there is a need for the County Governments to ensure that the district hospitals are well-equipped for the students to carry out practicals effectively.
“Equipping the district hospitals, for instance, is a sure way to ensure that the two governments are collaborative so that we get the value for the NG-CDF funds in education,” he added.
He requested the County Governments to ensure the deployment of tutors at the learning institutions as a way of ensuring that the projects do not become stalled because of a lack of personnel.
He also called upon the National Government to deploy staff as a way of ensuring that Kenya Medical Training College at Awendo becomes fully operational.
The former Minister for East African and Regional Cooperation also implored the Ministry for Health to equip the Medical Training Colleges to ensure quality education.
The Committee has now called for the creation of a section of the fund to cater for environmental change actions.
This part of the fund will cater for tree plantation, a program that aims at attaining enough national forest cover.
In line with the Ministry of Information Communication Technology and Digital Economy’s vision of technological advancement, 3 per cent of the funds will also cover part of the ICT hubs in schools.
“The ICT hubs are one of the milestones that NG-CDF will be bringing to this country in a transformative way to help this country move forward,” he added.
The proposed amendments will also include the allocation of funds to cater the feeding programs in schools in arid and semi-arid areas.
According to the Committee, the feeding program in such schools will ensure that students from such areas are kept in school for smooth learning.
“How do you motivate students to go to schools when they haven’t had anything to eat and worse, are not sure of food in the same schools,” he asked.
According to George Ole Meshuke, the director of the parliamentary Committee, he will ensure that the fund is effectively utilized in areas that deserve it.
The NG-CDF chairperson added that the proposed increment of the funds will ensure that more development projects are accommodated apart from the bursary that takes a larger percentage.
“We have moved to increase the fund to allow it to accommodate more bursary applicants and other development projects that need the fund,” said the director.
The committee also directed the grass root teams for the fund in all constituencies to ensure that the funds are also used to complete the stalled projects.
The team, however, blamed the national treasury for the delayed disbursement of the fund to constituencies to ensure timely implementation of the same on projects.
This according to the team, has made development remain slow, hence the need for swift action to ensure timely release of the funds.
“We face a problem of delayed disbursement of funds to the NG-CDF accounts which have made many projects delay or remain stalled,” said Sirma.
As amended in 2016 to ensure socio-economic developments, the proposed changes will ensure that the funds are used in line with realizing its full potential in terms of development.
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