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{
    "id": 1079691,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1079691/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 149,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Mbadi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "This House considered the Report of the Budget and Appropriations Committee and passed it with amendments, which was later translated into Committee of Supply. We took several hours here in the Committee of Supply to discuss each and every vote for the Ministries and all the programmes. Now, what the Budget and Appropriations Committee has done, through the Chairperson, is to take that and translate it into a Bill which, if passed, will be assented to by the President. I just want to say one thing: The reason why we are fast-tracking this Bill is due to the coming into force of the 2010 Constitution. Before the 2010 Constitution, we used to have what we called Vote on Account. Whenever we reached 30th June of a given financial year and the Appropriation Bill was still in process, the National Assembly would allow the Government to draw some money from the Consolidated Fund to meet expenses as we wait for the Appropriation Bill to be passed. However, the 2010 Constitution made it mandatory that the Appropriation Bill must be passed by Parliament before we allow vote on account. So, the only time that the vote on account can be allowed is if the Appropriation Bill takes time to be signed by the President, which does not happen. The President has no reason to delay the Appropriation Bill. This provision has tied it. It has made the budget process tidy. We are now in a system where if the Government has to spend even one shilling, the Appropriation Act must be in place. That is good for this country. Even the Finance Bill has to be concluded before 30th June. There is nothing much to say now. We know how much we are giving the Government and where the money is going to come from. This House has already deliberated and discussed this exhaustively. I want to conclude by urging the House that we finish this quickly so that we go to the Committee of the whole House which we should also finish quickly and move to the main agenda around this time which is the Finance Bill. With those remarks, I second."
}