HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 102817,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/102817/?format=api",
"text_counter": 214,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "24 Tuesday, 15th June, 2010 Eng. Gumbo",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Budget Speech, which was read here last week. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we debate the Budget Speech, I think it is important that we look at how much the Estimates and the allocations that we deal with here every year do go towards improving the lives of Kenyans; in some quarters, the Budget reading sometimes appears to have become just a mere annual ritual. I think it is important that we start to ask some pertinent questions. For example, to what extent has the annual Budget helped to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in this country? The evidence that is available tends to suggest that this may not be so. I think it is important to ask why. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think we should now start to look at State and statutory enterprises just to see to what extent the Kenyan taxpayerâs money is being used. Here, I think this is probably the time to isolate those State institutions that can clearly be seen to be performing and also those that are really not performing. I have in mind, for example, the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC). I think the general argument is that in the short time the IIEC has been in existence, it has generally done a commendable job. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will recall that when we went for the last elections in 2007, our voters register was standing at just over 14 million, out of which, it has now been discovered, more than 2 million were actually dead voters or double registration. That register was based in the period between 1992 and 2007 â almost a period of 15 years. We look at the time it has taken the IIEC to build the current register to a registered population of about 12 million, which is just over one month. I think that is very commendable and we need to commend them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think also the three by-elections in Shinyalu, Bomachoge and South Mugirango have also given the IIEC a very good score, indeed. I think that, as a House, we should be duty-bound to try to make sure that those Government institutions which are performing well like the IIEC are supported through adequate allocations. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we debate the Budget, we have to be careful as a society, so that Kenya does not become a society where only the wealthy do have a say. Unfortunately today, our country is being seen as one of the most unequal places on earth and, really, we have to ask why? How much is this Budget helping us to close the gap that exists in terms of who has and who does not have in Kenya. The scenario today is not encouraging. A lot of us in this House, for example, went to public schools. In those days, Budget allocations were much, much lower. Today, I can say with confidence that most hon. Members here have their children in private schools, and even an equal number have their children going to private universities after secondary school. The question that must be asked is why? Public schools have decayed. It is important that this situation is reversed, so that as many Kenyan children as possible can have opportunities to get proper learning without having to incur the generally heavy costs associated with private schools. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the situation is not different in the Ministry of Health. We have some public health institutions in this country where the wards and the mortuaries are more or less the same. People die in the ward and take up to three days before they are taken to the mortuaries. This is a very depressing situation."
}