HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 1065498,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1065498/?format=api",
"text_counter": 127,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kitui Central, WDM-K",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Makali Mulu",
"speaker": {
"id": 1955,
"legal_name": "Benson Makali Mulu",
"slug": "benson-makali-mulu"
},
"content": "As part of my opening remarks, I want to start by thanking the joint Committee which looked at this Bill and did a very detailed Report. I must confess that I have looked at this Report and it is good. It provides a lot of information which will help in adding value to this important Bill. I want to start by saying that this Bill is not farfetched. It has very progressive proposals, at the same time, there are areas I am not happy with as the Member of Parliament for Kitui Central and as somebody coming from Kitui County. As I make my contributions, I would point out areas I am not happy with. I want to start with Clause 3 of this Bill, which talks about economy and shared prosperity. When you look at the history of this country and try to analyse why some Kenyans say they do not belong to this country, it is because of what I would call inequitable distribution of natural resources. This is one of the things which have made Kenyans feel like they have been marginalised. When you look at Clause 3, the issue of the economy and shared prosperity, this is very progressive. I want to state in this House that in Kitui County where I come from, we have been having a Class B road which has been untarmacked since Independence. It is only this year that this road has been done. I must appreciate His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, for seeing the need to tarmac this road. I support the Government for tarmacking this road. When I see this clause talking about prosperity, to me, it makes a lot of sense. It is very attractive to me and the people I lead. If you look at Part (c) of that clause, it talks about sustainable sources of livelihood. It says that the State shall promote sustainable sources of livelihood including agriculture, pastoralism and the blue economy. Part (d) of it says that the State shall (which makes it mandatory) promote, an economic system, that is SMEs. Our county is very rich with mineral resources which are not exploited. So when I look at this clause which states that the State shall make sure these resources are exploited for the benefit of our people, it is very attractive. I will be supporting this Bill because of this clause. It is going to empower people economically and it will be of much help to the people. The other matter I want to raise is the matter of representation. We have been told that we will increase the number of Members of Parliament to 360. Some Members are saying it will go to about 600. There is this argument about the cost of these positions. We need to be honest as Hon. Members. People need to take time and do a proper analysis of this proposal on matters cost. From where I sit, when you analyse the cost implications of these additional positions, there are high chances that the country will be saving money. This can be proven through analysis of data. We are saying that we are bringing ministers and assistant ministers to this House. The truth of the matter is that they will be Members of Parliament. They will possibly get additional allowances when they become ministers. So, we will be doing away with 22 cabinet secretaries who would earn full salaries, 42 chief administrative and officers. If you do the mathematics, there are high chances we will be saving money. I have taken time to look at this thoroughly. I must say that at the end of the day, the issue of cost should not be a major issue. Even if you look at the total budget, this Parliament at the end of the day, hardly takes more than 1.5 per cent of the total budget. So, looking at that, the issue of cost does not make sense to me much. That is why I want to tie that with the issue of corruption. The Auditor-General, every year, informs this House that we lose about a third of our budget, which is about a trillion, to misapplication, misdirection and corruption issues. If we were to sort out the issue of corruption, even the Kshs10 billion we are talking about of referendum will be unrobing the scene. Much more money is being spent or misused through corruption compared to what we are likely to use to take care of this document. 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."
}