Ksh10 billion cuts leave Ruto ICT hubs staring at disarray
By Anthony Mwangi, August 12, 2024One of President William Ruto’s pet projects, the establishment of the Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) hubs could be thrown into disarray following cuts in the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF).
In the revised Supplementary budget approved two weeks ago, parliament reduced allocation to the NGCDF by Sh10 billion.
The Fund had been allocated KSh59.9 billion in the current financial year before it was revised.
During the debate on the budget, members protested that the reduction would affect some of the projects under the fund citing ICT Hub’s construction as one of them.
Each Member of Parliament (MP) will now get an additional Sh30 million in a last-minute adjustment to the proposed 2024-2025 budget.
Digital jobs
President Ruto has however maintained that ICT hubs will be established in all 1,450 wards nationwide to create digital jobs for the youth. On Saturday during a meeting with MPs from the Mount Kenya region, Ruto challenged them to fast-track the construction of ICT hubs in their constituencies which he noted was worryingly slow.
“I am personally concerned that the process is going on too slow. We need these hubs to help give our youths a chance to develop in the ICT field and benefit from the thousands of jobs in the world,” Ruto told the MPs at State House
The NGCDF Act was recently amended to set aside 3% of constituency allocation for the construction of the ICT hubs. The bulk of the NG-CDF is channeled to education (78.2 per cent), security (5.7 per cent), and climate change (1.6 per cent) with other projects like the ICT Hubs sharing the remaining percentage.
The 78.2 per cent for education comprises bursary funds, while Sh15 billion is allocated to bursaries.
Treasury recently announced cuts in the allocation by Sh15 billion, which could affect bursaries for thousands of students, as well as school projects. This is in response to the budget shortfalls due to the acrimonious rejection of the Finance Bill, 2024.
President William Ruto urged the leaders recently to ensure they use the funds prudently and avoid misuse.
“Any member of parliament who presides over the misappropriation of CDF or the theft of CDF should never be elected. They should never be elected because it is the ultimate betrayal of the people who elected you,” he said.
The Head of State explained that the hubs are expected to offer the youth a chance to access the internet and perform online jobs. Ruto revealed that he had given each lawmaker a four-month deadline to ensure that the project had been completed.
Internet connectivity
To support the exercise, the President revealed that he had approved Sh40 billion for the project and his government would ensure all wards have internet connectivity.
“I have signed a new law for CDF and in the law, I have directed that each ward should have an ICT hub. We have allocated Sh40 billion to connect the internet in every ward in Kenya so that the youth can get online and do digital jobs.”
The President further revealed that during his international travels, he had secured 500,000 jobs for Kenyans.
“We entered an agreement with the US, Germany, France, UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia that they will give us 1 million jobs for Kenyan youth,” he told the congregation.
“I have given MPs four months and every Member of Parliament must make ready their ICT hub for us to create employment for the youth.”
“I have already negotiated 500,000 jobs for Kenyans in different parts of the world and for that reason, we are signing 19 labour agreements including one with Germany to make sure that these young people can get jobs,” the President added.
The government embarked on a project of connecting the internet by laying cables on Kenya Power cable lines at a fee of Ksh 300, 000 per kilometre of cable.
Former ICT CS Eliud Owalo was instrumental in fast-tracking the establishment of the hubs. He pushed for the training and by the time he left office, existing ICT hubs had already trained 149,000 youths in the project to undertake digital jobs.
Speaking at the 21st National Prayer Breakfast meeting, Ruto explained that his government targets the digital space to create jobs.
“I want to tell all MPs who are here we have set out targets on the digital space to create jobs, every member of parliament seated here and those who are not here have an opportunity to create an ICT hub in every constituency in Kenya that is why we changed the law on the CDF,” he said.
Ruto further disclosed that he was part of the launch of the ICT hub at Ruiru constituency Kiambu County which has created jobs for 5,000 Kenyan youths.
“I was in Ruiru in MP Simon Kingara ‘s constituency when we launched an ICT hub that is hiring 5,000 Kenyan youths, I was very proud to see them working,” he said.
The Head of State further disclosed that during his recent US state tour, he signed a partnership deal with an American company, EAU Company, a Kenyan company, and the government of Kenya to support the country’s digital journey.
Adding that, the one billion US dollar deal will create the first-ever data centre that will use renewable energy to help build the country’s ecosystem.
“One of the big announcements that were made in my trip to America is an investment by Microsoft, an American company, G42 EAU company, Eco Cloud of Kenya, and the government of Kenya on the first-ever data centre that will use renewable energy,” he explained.