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{
    "id": 1021195,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1021195/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 207,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 41,
        "legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
        "slug": "adan-keynan"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Hon. Speaker, I know you are a former Chair of this important Committee and I am also a former Chair. What is interesting is that the same historical issues are coming up — and I am glad that first of all we looked at the Standing Orders in the last Parliament and helped this Committee to avoid mid-term reconstitution. They should be very grateful to us because those are some of the reforms that we introduced. Having said that, this Committee has a very important mandate. One of its important mandates is to examine, in the context of autonomy and efficiency of public investments, whether their public affairs are being managed in accordance with sound financial management and principles. Over the years, the issues that we used to raise are the same ones that are being raised. But one critical thing that the Committee ought to consider is, under the current constitutional framework, which slightly has improved the mandate and the efficacy of committee work, I thought that we would think out of the box and ensure that these State corporations - which are very important investments - function in line with prudent public financial management, public finance management regulations, public procurement and asset disposal regulations, the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, international public sector accounting standards and international financial reporting standards. Why do I say that? If you look at the same observations, the issue of ownership has been there since time immemorial. What have the parent ministries and parastatals done in order to improve the land ownership challenges that they have faced? If anything, there is nothing they have done. This, therefore, means that these organisations are being used as a milking cow in order to grab public land. It is high time that the ministries where these parastatals fall critically looked at the issue of ownership of land. This is because this is a very important investment. We cannot have the same audit queries and concerns year in, year out. Therefore, I plead with the membership of this Committee to critically dissect this issue and ensure that all State corporations with land issues get title deeds as a matter of urgency. The other issue that has always been there is procurement and execution of contract. This issue has been like this throughout. We have progressive procurement laws. It is high time that these key Government investments are obligated by law to strictly follow the procurement regulations. Without this, public investment and trust in those particular organisations will be wasted. This has been the theory. Therefore, it is high time that the Committees invoke both the 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."
}