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{
    "id": 1072134,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1072134/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 382,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Bomachoge Borabu, Independent",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Prof.) Zadoc Ogutu",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13302,
        "legal_name": "Zadoc Abel Ogutu",
        "slug": "zadoc-abel-ogutu-2"
    },
    "content": "There are structures of implementation in the Bill. We have got various permanent secretaries with their technical support teams. So, we should be able to eliminate those investors who have got a bad image globally. We need to avoid a situation where deals become an avenue for swindling resources from this country. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am happy that a contracting authority will be established. That authority will work independently, but also in consultation with the respective bodies where the projects will be implemented. What is important is that the authority will not have a reason to fail to substantively understand the background of investors. It should be made clear that investors must operate within premises where deliverables are well-articulated so that we may stand to gain as a nation. The contractual process has been set up by the Bill. The private public partnership has been on the ground for some time in this country. Green energy has advanced widely in Kenya, especially in the tea industry. It is because of the role the private sector has played, that is, working independently. However, the private sector will now work with public institutions. Where the private sector has been very active, there is lack of baseline information. This is where we have to be very careful. With a partnership, and I know that it is clearly given, the private investor will be free to offer proposals and even do feasibility studies. We have to be careful. As a private sector consultant in the energy industry, I have witnessed a situation where a whole project is fully run by a private investor with a lot of information least known to the public. As we go through this Bill, we should be clear on how to source and protect information which is being used in implementation of various projects. As I conclude, this Bill provides an opportunity whereby small companies, through a memorandum of understanding, can team up to bid for a huge project within the public sector. Such an opportunity should never be undermined. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, this particular opportunity should never be undermined because then as a country we are not going to develop our small investors. We see a situation in Kenya where over 50 years since this country became independent, our investors are not key players in the huge projects. We consistently seem to be going in that direction. I take note that in so doing, we are actually killing our own workforce and our economy because we are not the people in the key play of the economy. Other people are the ones taking the lead. Since the Bill gives us opportunity for our small companies to team up, I believe that window should be used carefully and competitively with the private sector or the Kenya private actors. I want to say that I see an opportunity where we are attracting large numbers of investors but, I also see an opportunity where we stand to lose unless we tighten the lose knobs that we have witnessed with the private sector in the previous years. I support the Bill."
}