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{
    "id": 101031,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/101031/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 265,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Okemo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 198,
        "legal_name": "Chrysanthus Barnabas Okemo",
        "slug": "chrysanthus-okemo"
    },
    "content": "We did demand and I think it is in the HANSARD, that the Minister must come here with the justification for why it is one-half. The Constitution does not say half. It says not more than half, which means it could be less. But year in, year out, through traditions, Ministers have come and they have actually asked for 50 per cent and they have got it automatically. But we did demand and I think the Minister promised last year that he would come here with an expenditure outturn to show how much he has spent before the Appropriations Act have been approved. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance has not come up with any figures here. I would like to oppose this Motion. He should show us how he will account for the 50 per cent? In fact, he has made his work very easy because he has itemized vote by vote. He has shown all the Ministries with the Printed Estimates. He has divided that by two to arrive at what he is requesting for. I would like him to itemise for each Ministry what they will require between now and the time the Appropriation Act is approved. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance should not take us for granted. We should not just give him a 50 per cent blanket approval without justifying how the money is spent. This time, as a House, we must insist that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance justifies the Vote on Account; whether it is 30 per cent or 40 per cent. How much did he spend last year between the time we approved the Vote on Account and the time the Appropriation Act was approved? You may find that it was more than 20 per cent or 30 per cent but less than 50 per cent. So, why do we need to approve more money than is necessary? Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to get a clarification. When I look at the Printed Estimates, besides the Ministerial Votes, we have what we call “expenditure of Consolidated Funds Services (CFS)”. If we do not give approval how will the Ministry pay public debt between now and the time the Appropriation Act is approved? How will we pay pensions and things like that? This is because the approval here is very specific. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance has already said what he wants approved. How will we handle the activities of the CFS? If this Parliament does not approve them, how will he spend them without that approval? That is the question I had in mind. If he had not itemized, maybe, it would be a question of arithmetic and he would get away with it. However, you can see that each Ministry is itemized both for the Recurrent Expenditure and the Development Expenditure. When I look at the table that summarizes all these expenditures, what happens to CFS activities? I need the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance to clarify that. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on an ending note, I think he should show us his expenditure out-turn between the time he had the Appropriation Act approved and---"
}