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{
    "id": 1174232,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1174232/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 977,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kipipiri, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Amos Kimunya",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 174,
        "legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
        "slug": "amos-kimunya"
    },
    "content": "at this time of the year in this season. They have been able to sit down and look at this request, which has come so late in the day, and bring it for regularisation. The quantum may not be much or varied in terms of use. I am glad that the Government has seriously taken the sentiments of this House in terms of ameliorating the suffering of Kenyans on fuel prices. We cannot control the situation in Ukraine. The situation has given oil-producing countries the excuse to recoup what they lost at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. I like looking at fuel prices wherever I go. Last time I was with you in Uganda. Much as people were thinking that fuel prices are lower there, we found that it was Ksh149 when ours was at Ksh143 per litre. The price in the UK is over Ksh250 per litre. You can hear the complaints they have over gas prices. All of that has to do with the Ukraine situation and the fact that the UK does not have a subsidy programme. Kenyans are lucky that this House is able to provide this funding to continue subsidising fuel prices. I am surprised most of the Members whose constituencies are affected by drought are not here. Everyone has been talking of the need to allocate money to drought mitigation. Part of this funding is for that. I hope they will read in the papers tomorrow that money has been provided for them, so that they can go to their constituencies to say that Parliament has provided money for drought mitigation. Obviously, extra security is required for elections. By and large, this is a straightforward request by the Treasury. At least it has come at the beginning of June and not at the very end of the financial year like last year. If we are lucky to come back to this House, one of the things we should look at is providing timelines within which requests should not be ratified. Much as the law provides for the opportunity, it is not good order to tell people it is a fait accompli. It would be better if we approve the first Supplementary Estimates incorporating not only what has been spent but also what is foreseen to be spent. The process should not only be reactive. Probably things have changed. We hope we will take back the Treasury to where it used to foresee things and be more proactive than reactive. I would not be surprised, if we had more time, to see Supplementary Estimates III. These are some of the things we hope to cure in the long term. This is a fair request and I support the re-allocations. We are also aware that obviously the donor funded projects have not moved as they should have done. It is the same with the road projects. It gets frightening when you go and see a road that was moving very fast and all of a sudden, the contractor is slowing down. It costs more in the longer term. It costs more in terms of the delayed benefits to the public. I hope that we have done this. The contractors will be sorted out and they can now move so that between now and the next rainy period, when we have the cold season - at least, when it is not wet. They will be able to move most of the earth works and repairs and even create more employment between now and election time. This is so that people are busy not just campaigning, but also earning something from the construction work with the funds now being released to the contractors. However, most importantly because this administration is about to come to an end in August, we saw what happened in 2017 especially at the county level when the first batch of governors were replaced by a new set. By the guise of verification of the pending bills, some of those people who supplied in 2013 and before have never been paid up to date in some of the counties. Another group is about to be changed. I hope that before they exit, with this funding, people will have been paid their debts so that we do not end up with a new cycle of suppliers who will be told that they cannot be paid because their governor who contracted them has now been replaced. Hence they should wait for a special audit and all that and they will not be paid until 2027. The fact that we have so many The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}