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{
    "id": 1213868,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1213868/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 239,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Caroli Omondi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker for the opportunity to add my voice in support of this Report by the Select Committee on Public Debt and Privatisation. In my former life, not very far from here across the road, my job was to issue what we called legal opinions on foreign loans confirming that that loan, when added to the total national cumulative loans, would not exceed the national ceiling on debt. We realised we were working in darkness because we could not find the correct data whether at the National Treasury or here. I think the history of our debt problem is much longer than we think. I think it is time we learnt from history and the bad practices that we witnessed in the 1990s and some of which are prevalent until now. We need to order a proper forensic audit on our foreign debt. In particular, if you remember in the old days when we had the Foreign Exchange Control Act, bureaucrats and politicians were adept at creating fake debts, especially on commercial paper for purposes of transferring foreign currency. I strongly suspect that part of the Kenyan debt is composed of fake debts that actually exist between individuals. It is time this House and this Committee ordered a proper forensic audit of our foreign debt to see what is authentic and what is ineligible for purpose of being fake. Secondly, it is tied in international commercial dealings, but debts and projects tainted with corruption are not enforceable. I think you remember the case of duty-free where the claimant admitted before the International Centre for Investment Dispute (ICSID) that he had bribed a former head of State here. Although the termination of his contract was found to be irregular, ICSID ruled that he could not be compensated because of the tainted nature of that particular transaction. It is the same with a lot of our debt where commercial debt is being used by bureaucrats and politicians to finance infrastructure projects other than using long-term concessional loans for multilateral agencies. The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is a good example that we should investigate because there is no reason why the Kenyan SGR, which is even electric, but runs 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."
}