An NGO has petitioned Parliament to allocate Sh100 million for irrigation projects in 290 constituencies.
Shining Hope Communities Organisation (Shofco) seeks amendments to the Irrigation Act (No. 14 of 2019), the Kenya Roads Board Act (No. 7 of 1999), the Road Maintenance Levy Fund Act (No. 9 of 1993) and all other relevant laws for constituencies to utilize funds raised to promote irrigation.
“Change the ‘Road Maintenance Fee Fund’ to ‘Infrastructure Development and Maintenance Fee Fund’ so that part of the fund can be used to develop irrigation infrastructure across Kenya and thereby boost the agricultural sector,” the petition reads.
If these amendments are approved by the House of Representatives, the National Irrigation Authority will also benefit from the new Infrastructure Development and Maintenance Levy Fund alongside the Kenya Rural Roads Authority, the Kenya Urban Roads Authority and the Kenya National Highways Authority.
Furthermore, if the petition is approved, the National Insurance Authority will share the money from the New Infrastructure Development and Maintenance Levy Fund and distribute the money equally among the 290 electoral districts.
To ensure the success of this mission, the organization proposed to Parliament that the National Roads Authority use the same structure as the Kenya Rural Roads Authority to share funds with constituencies.
“This petition seeks that each constituency receives at least Sh100 million from the new Infrastructure Development and Maintenance Levy Fund through the National Irrigation Authority to ensure that various irrigation projects in all 290 constituencies benefit from the funds and boost overall agricultural productivity in Kenya,” the petition reads.
In the petition, the organization denounced that although agriculture contributes about 22.4 percent of the country’s GDP, only 4 percent of the country’s land is currently irrigated.
The petition says the appeals are in line with Kenya’s Kwanzaa programme, which promises to pump Sh250 billion over five years to boost the agricultural sector.