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{
    "id": 1172121,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1172121/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 276,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Wilberforce Oundo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13331,
        "legal_name": "Wilberforce Ojiambo Oundo",
        "slug": "wilberforce-ojiambo-oundo-2"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker for this opportunity. I want to echo the sentiments of my colleagues, that indeed the National Treasury has continuously and without shame abused Article 223 of the Constitution, in respect to supplementary budgets. We have a few weeks to the end of the financial year. Indeed, it beats logic where they have been all these months, in order to bring a supplementary budget to resize or reset the budget we passed last year. Again, it looks a bit unfair because we have a lot of money being allocated towards infrastructure projects that require procurement, tendering and awarding. Hon. Speaker, when the chair was presenting, I was just wondering how they would manage to procure and get to commit the funds before the end of the financial year. Unless of course there is a suggestion that the works have been done and this is just being used as a cover up to avoid accumulation of pending bills. Hon. Speaker, it is indeed again saddening that donor-funded projects have not received adequate counterpart funding. The reason simply being lower absorption. Indeed, if there is low absorption, how then will they absorb the Kshs 8 billion for the roads infrastructure? How will they absorb the several billions being put on the Longonot to Nakuru railway line? Hon. Speaker, this is indeed a pure case of probably lack of foresight and planning that seems to now get us into a fix. Finally, subsidy on fertilizers is laudable. There has been a lot of hue and cry all over the country and it became a hot political potato. It is good the Government has risen to the occasion and given subsidised fertilizers to farmers. It is so telling that most of the planting season has ended. I do not know who the recipient will be of the subsidized fertilizer towards the end of the red planting season. Finally, the issue of fuel subsidy is not sustainable. I totally disagree and this is a debate we have had in other circles. That is the fact of the matter. It is not sustainable and indeed the country, the National Treasury and the energy sector need to go to the drawing board. We have allocated Ksh 16 billion, the other time I think it was Kshs15 billion and then Kshs10 billion. This is not sustainable considering that a number of reasons for the high fuel prices are the endless taxes imposed on fuel. It is probably time we look at the whole thing all together. With those few remarks, Hon. Speaker, I support."
}