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{
    "id": 1081404,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1081404/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 645,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nandi Hills, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Alfred Keter",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2514,
        "legal_name": "Alfred Kiptoo Keter",
        "slug": "alfred-kiptoo-keter"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. From the outset, I would like to support the Report. As a Member of the Committee on Budget and Appropriations, I want to agree with most members who have spoken before me that it was very challenging to address this Report considering the time it came before us and the fact that we needed to engage all the departmental committees and again to relook into the entire supplementary budget. Like it has been said, we observe that the issue of pending bills is big. It is becoming a huge problem where we need to really try and intervene as a House. We tried recommending that the National Treasury looks into a way of handling most of these pending Bills because they are the reason we have challenges in our economic stimulus programmes. You cannot succeed in stimulating the economy unless circulation of money is there. Many Kenyans have been denied resources even after understanding that they must have borrowed from different organisations and it is attracting interest. When you do not pay on time it will mean that these particular Kenyans will not only lose on their capital but will also eat into their other resources because it will mean they must pay with a lot of interest. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, there is the issue of the absorption of the development budget where most MDAs had high shortfalls in terms of absorption. We also realised that there are very specific MDAs which every subsequent time have issues with absorption. This will guide us in future in terms of how to make budget allocations in the budget cycle. When you do not have this supplementary budget on time, it will really affect the budget cycle. I agree with the Committee’s recommendation that the latest that we can receive a supplementary budget from the National Treasury should be before the end of 30th April so that we have two months on the minimum to interrogate the document, engage the departmental committees and again to negotiate with the various ministries in terms of their reallocation and many others. One thing that I want to urge Members is that in as much as we have issues with this supplementary budget, we must understand that we are living in a very extraordinary time and the measures must be very extraordinary in nature for us to overcome the challenges we are facing at the moment. You must understand that the projection in revenue is not as expected. Moreover, to meet the budgetary allocations we must raise revenue that is going to match the expectations of the budget. One thing I want to say is that we observed that we need to stimulate the economy. We need to enhance the economic stimulus package that is going to improve our economy so that we raise high revenue. Even as we discuss this supplementary budget, the Finance Bill was before us and we realised that it is addressing the gap or the deficit that was created by the budgetary projections which we did not meet. With that, I support. Thank you so much."
}