• MP said Bill would channel more funds to the grassroots and ensure manufacturing sector is well funded.
• She said the Bill would provide a platform for Kenyans to make money, empowering them financially.
Image: ALICE WAITHERA
The Building Bridges Initiative Bill could transform the economy, Kigumo MP Wangari Mwaniki has said.
The MP has said the Bill and referendum, if approved, would channel more funds to the grassroots, thus empowering Kenyans.
She cited the extra money - up from 15 to 35 per cent - that would be disbursed to the counties and the creation of extra constituencies that will mean more development.
Mwaniki is the vice chairperson of the trade, industry and cooperatives departmental committee of the National Assembly.
She spoke at Wamahiga Secondary School while handing over a Sh7 million bus fully sponsored by the CDF. Five other top- performing schools have received similar buses.
The BBI Bill would ensure more funds are allocated for manufacturing and other sectors that are crucial to the development of the economy, Mwaniki said.
However, the government is unable to meet lower allocations for county expenses at this time because of the costs of Covid-19 and its own appetite for borrowing. It is not clear how the counties would actually receive more money under BBI.
In Kigumo, the government will establish an industrial park from which investors will be able to establish factories creating jobs and wealth, Mwaniki said.
“In the park, bakers will provide pastries to schools instead of buying them from outside the county,” Wangari said. She said local Technical Industrial Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training institutions will provide uniforms.
The Kangari market to be constructed will consolidate farmers' produce and help them access the export markets direct from their farms.
The market with cold storage will enable farmers to pool their produce and ensure a consistent supply, selling to major exporters.
Mwaniki is a member of a secretariat appointed by MPs to lobby for the BBI in the Mt Kenya region.
She said the Bill will create platforms for Kenyans to make money and said politicians should stop spreading untruths about BBI's vast benefits.
“Let us agree as leaders to tell the truth about the Bill so Kenyans can make independent decisions about it,” she said.
The Bill is being discussed in county assemblies and needs to be approved by 24 of 47 counties before going to Parliament for approval and then a referendum.
The MP said President Uhuru Kenyatta should be given space and peace to complete his term and fulfill his promises.
She said the succession politics that has rocked the Mt. Kenya region has divided leaders and prompted some to disrespect the presidency.
The CDF has also built 15 halls and more than 10 administration blocks in various schools to re-structure the schools’ set-ups, the lawmaker said
“We want to ensure that students and teachers have sufficient working spaces conducive to boosting their morale and their performance," Wangari said.
The MP said her office has instructed school administrations not to raise funds from parents for projects without consulting the CDF to avoid over-burdening them.
A modern multi-storey bloc will also be constructed at Kigumo police station with separate cells for juveniles, women and men, she said. The old station is dilapidated.
(Edited by V. Graham)