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{
    "id": 1072120,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1072120/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 368,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Homa Bay CWR, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Gladys Wanga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 590,
        "legal_name": "Gladys Atieno Nyasuna",
        "slug": "gladys-atieno-nyasuna"
    },
    "content": "For the record, the Committee conducted public participation pursuant to Article 118 (1) (b) of the Constitution and Standing Order 127 and received written memoranda and all submissions from the National Treasury, the Public Private Partnerships unit, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority, the Council of Governors (CoG), the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) and the Kenya Association of Manufactures (KAM). Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, all the stakeholders were in support of the Bill but proposed amendment which the Committee put into consideration while preparing the proposed Committee amendments. Some of the proposals were adopted, forming part of the Committee’s amendments. As it has been elaborated by the Leader of Majority Party, the PPPs target is to unlock funds that exist within the private sector; to enable us foster economic development without necessarily falling back on money from our Exchequer. There has been a lot of national debate around the issue of our growing public debt. One of the ways and reasons why my Committee took the matter as serious and urgent, and one of the reasons we moved with speed to engage the stakeholders on this matter, is to be able to provide a legal framework within which we can attract private money. This is to find other avenues for the debate on public debt. The country has to develop. We must find ways of getting vaccines, educating our children and funding their free primary and secondary education, while at the same time providing infrastructure and becoming the region’s hub in terms of investment and development. One of the avenues through which we shall be successful is by providing this legal framework for PPPs. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Majority Leader mentioned that since the passing of the Public Private Partnership Act of 2013, which has now been in place for close to eight years, only two projects have been brought to financial closure. Of course, there is a problem; if you have only closed two projects in eight years, you must look at where the gaps are. When the legal framework was looked at, this is what resulted in the amendments that have been brought in this Public Private Partnerships Bill of 2021. As the Leader of the Majority Party elaborated, the one that came in 2017 was to bring in the county governments so that they could also become players. There are no private persons bringing in their money; they would like to get into a partnership that would take three or five years to negotiate and then they are told: “Okay, having finalised the negotiations, we are now waiting for the Cabinet” or “the Cabinet met but our agenda was not reached. So, let us wait for another two weeks” or “the President is out of the country at the moment. So, let us wait for another month.” Months and years will go by and what will ultimately happen, because these are private persons with their own money, they will look for another place. They will go to Ethiopia or Tanzania or to any other regime that will accept their money as quickly as possible. So, that is why it is critical that we review this Act with a view of reducing the bureaucracy and creating an enabling legal framework so that we can close more deals. I am happy that the PPP Unit has now been revamped and has the required skills on board so that we can close deals. The PPP is about investment or business; it is not so much about engineers or the projects themselves. It is about business and having competent staff who will decide on which deals can bring returns on investment and if the country will benefit from the project. 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"
}