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{
    "id": 1014362,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1014362/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 253,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba North, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": " Thank you Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me the opportunity to support. I commend the Committee for the good work that it has done. It could be that the challenge we face as a House is to make sure that we put punitive measures for different ministries that are not implementing the work of this House. The opportunity to serve in the 10th Parliament, may be because of the way the Parliament was configured, showed me that it was easier to hold the cabinet secretaries (CS) accountable. Members would refuse to engage with their own issues on the Floor when they do not act. However, when we just speak here and ministries are not responding to what we are dealing with, then it makes our work as Members very futile. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, just before you called me, I was reading a comment that somebody is mentioning in relation to Rwanda. It is said that in Rwanda, during this COVID-19 period, they have built 22,000 schools, while in Kenya we have COVID millionaires instead. It is not because we have not appropriated money for classrooms. The money has been appropriated. I know we have said that we shall call the respective ministry so that we can get an update, but sometimes even our bureaucracy is too much that you might find that COVID is over and the money that was appropriated for specific purposes no longer makes sense. So, what we need is for this Committee to work very closely with the relevant committees that are overseeing specific departments, just to make sure that the things that Parliament does takes effect. Recently, I was shocked to see that there was a Bill we worked on very closely with the late Hon. Joyce Laboso, namely, the Social Safety Bill, that seeks to cushion a lot of the vulnerable women and poor children during these times. In fact, a lot of it also has to do with what Hon. Prof. Jackline Oduol was talking about. Unfortunately, we are bringing the Bill to repeal it before its even implemented. What sense does that make honestly? At least even when we want to repeal something, let it go through a process of implementation for one or two months. This Bill has never been operationalised. So, we do not know how good or bad it is and we are not even giving any alternatives, but we are already seeking to repeal it. What I would suggest is that as Parliament, we need to have teeth with which we bite so that we can be taken seriously and not just as a rubber stamp to the Executive. Otherwise, I support and also congratulate the Committee. Thank you. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}