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{
    "id": 1000689,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1000689/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 1337,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Mbadi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "Allow me to talk about some figures that are in the Budget, in response to a story that was carried that we protested the reduction of funds to National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF). There is nothing like we protested. The point is: NG-CDF is provided through an Act of Parliament which conditions this country to not give in the subsequent year less than what was given in the previous year. Therefore, what we did was to just engage with the National Treasury and point out the law. But again, as I said earlier, the Budget is a negotiated document, especially in a presidential system where the Executive has to negotiate with Parliament. That is exactly what we did and we made sure that the NG-CDF allocation remains the same. As a Parliament, we have also offered something. We reduced Parliament’s budget for the first time with over Ksh2.5 billion at the supplementary stage. I think it is a time to give and take and that is exactly what we have done as a nation. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, as I talk about the transparency in the Budget - and this is my final comment because I can see my time is gone - I want to persuade the National Treasury that going forward, and I know they took advantage that this time we had so many challenges and it was unpredictable because certain things had to be adjusted here and there… But it is very untidy to see the National Treasury coming to us with Budget Estimates, then after two days bring amendments and after three days, they come up with more amendments. This causes a lot of confusion not only to the Committee, but to the entire country because we do not know the policy direction of the country. I know we are waiting for policy highlights and revenue raising measures on Thursday, but we would want to hear how the Government would want to go further in supporting this Budget. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I support."
}