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{
"id": 1111679,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1111679/?format=api",
"text_counter": 396,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13219,
"legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
"slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
},
"content": "the National Assembly then, but that Bill was rejected and it never saw the light of the day. So, this is a very good effort by Sen. Farhiya and I hope that this time round, Parliament will see the wisdom of passing this Bill. It is said that this country loses a whopping Kshs608 billion annually to corruption. When you translate that, it is about 7.8 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or a third of our budget. That is staring at a crisis. This country will never attain development, be transformed and will never catch up with other developed countries, if we continue allowing corruption to remain a cancer within our public sector. If we convert that rate down to the money that we send to counties, what that means is that every financial year when we pass money that should go down to counties, 7.8 per cent of that money is lost to corruption. What that means also is that in each financial year, when you give money to our constituencies through National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG- CDF), every time you give NG-CDF Kshs137 million, it means that 7.8 per cent roughly Kshs30 million is lost to corruption. If you have traversed this country, we all know the poverty levels. The effect of this kind of money that is lost, is there for people to see. Madam Temporary Speaker, in terms of even CDF alone, there is a lot of disparity. Constituencies that are managed well you will hear cases of children going to school being given bursaries of up to Kshs35,000. In the worst managed constituencies, children to school are paid as little as Kshs3,000. That is mocking Kenyans. I am happy that “Mama Miradi” is here. I have seen her being a champion of uplifting the lives of the poor. Now, if you pick a poor Kenyan trying to eke a living earning maybe less than US$2 as profit from our business, it will not be easy for him to pay school fees. If I pick one school in my county called Tombe Girls Secondary School, its annual fee is Kshs43,000 and then you are giving that Kenyan Kshs3,000 annually as bursary. That is mockery. Madam Temporary Speaker, if I pick one of my constituents, traversing one point to the office of the headquarters of the constituency where you will make an application for NG-CDF and coming back again to confirm whether have successful, you will end up spending 50 per cent of this money. You will spend Kshs1,500 and the bursary you are getting will be Kshs1,500. We want to put in place a mechanism of fighting corruption so that these benefits can trickle down to the poorest of the poor in this country. We want everybody to account for the sources of their income. If you are, for example, working as a chair of NG-CDF, we need to know how much you earn and the source of money that has enabled you to start driving a 4x4 vehicle within the constituency. Madam Temporary Speaker, if you are a Member of National Assembly or you are a Senator, we need to know your financial background. How much money have you been making to allow you lead the kind of lifestyle you are leading? Otherwise, how do you explain a case, for example, what we handled when I was chair of EACC? I am happy that the Judiciary has since resolved matter. A junior officer who was working as an accountant in the National Water Corporation (NWC) had cash deposit in his personal account of more than Kshs130"
}