An NGO has petitioned Parliament to ringfence Sh100 million for irrigation projects in the 290 constituencies.
Shining Hope for Communities (Shofco) is seeking 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 gain from the funds collected to boost irrigation.
“Change the ‘Road Maintenance Levy Fund’ to ‘Infrastructure Development and Maintenance Levy Fund’ so that part of the fund can be used to develop irrigation infrastructure in all parts of Kenya and therefore boost the agricultural sector,” reads the petition.
The amendments, if adopted by the House, will also see the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) benefit from the new infrastructure development and maintenance levy fund alongside the Kenya Rural Roads Authority, Kenya Urban Roads Authority, and Kenya National Highways Authority.
Further, if the petition is adopted, the NIA will share the funds from the new infrastructure development and maintenance levy fund and distribute the cash equally among the 290 constituencies.
To ensure this is done successfully, the organisation has proposed to Parliament that the NIA should use the same structure used by the Kenya Rural Roads authority in sharing the funds with constituencies.
“This petition aims at having each constituency receive at least Sh100 million from the new infrastructure development and maintenance levy fund through the National Irrigation Authority to ensure various irrigation projects in all the 290 constituencies benefit from the funds and the overall agricultural productivity of Kenya is boosted,” reads the petition.
The organisation decried in the petition that despite agriculture contributing 22.4 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), only four percent of the country is currently being irrigated.
It says that the petition is in line with the Kenya Kwanza manifesto which promised to inject Sh250 billion in five years to boost the agricultural sector.
