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{
    "id": 1077036,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1077036/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 242,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Garissa Township, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Aden Duale",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": " Hon. Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity to have my say on the Budget Estimates Report from the Committee on Budget and Appropriations. I want to be very honest and truthful. One of the former presidents of the USA - President Thomas Jefferson - said that honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. If you want to change the course of this country from an expenditure, revenue and debt perspective that power lies with Parliament. It does not lie with the National Treasury. It does not lie with the President and this House must stop lamenting. The new Public Finance Management Act in its architecture, gives the National Assembly that power. Article 221(4) says: “Before the National Assembly considers the estimates of revenue and expenditure, a committee of the Assembly shall discuss and review the estimates and make recommendations to the Assembly.” That is where we are today. Let us face the facts because as leaders we will be counted. We will be remembered for putting this country into the worst debt crisis. There is no way we are going to implement Financial Year 2021/2022 Budget without raising the debt ceiling to Kshs9 trillion or more. I want this House to listen to me. As we speak here, this House has raised the ceiling to Kshs9 trillion. As we sit here, outstanding public debt as of June 2021 is Kshs8.6 trillion. Then you add the many undisbursed loans since August last year to the tune of Kshs1.3 that the Government has committed and paid commitment fees and is waiting for disbursement. That is also part of our debt which is Kshs1.3 trillion. When you do that you will realise that we will be at Kshs10.03 trillion by the end of June this year. This surpasses the Kshs9 trillion debt ceiling of this House. If you add the Kshs952 billion that this Report is asking to finance the deficit then we are talking about Kshs11 trillion debt. That is the reality of the day. Hon. Speaker, let me go on record so that the people who appear on television do not lie. By adopting this Report we have indirectly altered the debt ceiling. It is as plain as that. Tomorrow when the Cabinet Secretary brings a motion for increment of the debt ceiling nobody in this House should raise issues. Moreover, those who go to television must have their facts right. Additionally, I just want to ask you, what happened to Hon. Bunyasi, that management Bill? There was a debt management Bill by Hon. Bunyasi which was very critical to address all these issues. 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."
}