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{
"id": 1079689,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1079689/?format=api",
"text_counter": 147,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kieni, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kanini Kega",
"speaker": {
"id": 1813,
"legal_name": "James Mathenge Kanini Kega",
"slug": "james-mathenge-kanini-kega"
},
"content": "economy as most of the businesses are having challenges in settling their debts. In fact, most of the businesses, and Members can attest to that, have closed down and others have been auctioned. This is an issue that has been coming out every time that we have interaction either with the State Departments or with the CS, the National Treasury. When he was here, he gave a directive that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, including county governments, that they must clear pending bills by 30th June 2021. However, that was not followed by actual commitments because all that financing must be budgeted for. Unfortunately, when we looked at the Budget itself and the Supplementary Budget, there is no provision for settling pending bills. As a House, we must now pronounce ourselves properly and decisively on this issue of pending bills. We are told that, for example, road projects, have pending bills in excess of Kshs100 billion. If you ask most of the Members here, you will find that most of the road projects in their constituencies are not proceeding basically because there are some pending bills that have not been paid. It is high time we dealt with the matter because, for sure, it is a time bomb. The fourth one is that the total cost of stalled projects is Kshs9 trillion. Now, Kshs9 trillion is the budget for three financial years. Those are monies that have been put in projects that have not been completed. We have also indicated and said that we have to have a proper roadmap on how we are going to complete those stalled projects. This is a worrying trend. As I indicated, there is a problem in adherence to the project guidelines that have been issued by the National Treasury. A policy must be implemented to ensure enforcement of the PFM Act and the Treasury guidelines. Going forward, no new projects should be introduced before completion of ongoing projects. This has been a rhetoric question all the time when we have always been saying that before we embark on any new project let us, first of all, complete the ongoing projects because that is how we are accumulating pending bills. For a long period, the mode of bidding for the resources has been based on historical allocation to the Ministries, Departments and Agencies within the various budgetary sectors. This has an effect on incremental budget year in, year out. This one, definitely, needs to change so that the MDAs that are in the production sector of the economy do not continue getting limited resources, for example, the State Department for Trade and Enterprise Development. As I conclude, the Financial Year 2021/2022 Budget has been prepared against the background of significant resource constraints due to the adverse effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the economy. There is a limited resource envelop on account of economic under- performance and this has resulted into several budget constraints. Now, more than ever, the country must tighten its belt and limit its spending to high priority areas in order to ensure that the citizens’ most urgent needs are met in a cost-effective manner. The Schedule of the Appropriation Bill, 2021 as per the resolution of this House that was done on Thursday, 17th June 2021, through the Committee of Supply, recommended that this House resolves to approve the attached Schedule in the Appropriation Bill for the Financial Year 2021/2022, and also approves the National Treasury finalising the required Budget document as per the PFM Act on the detailed estimates Hon. Speaker, I would want to move and request the Leader of the Minority Party, Hon. John Mbadi, to second. Thank you."
}