Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1236925,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1236925/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 120,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Musalia Mudavadi",
    "speaker_title": "The Prime Cabinet Secretary",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 84,
        "legal_name": "Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi",
        "slug": "musalia-mudavadi"
    },
    "content": "Secondly, we are making it very clear that it is our intention to focus more on concessional borrowing where we are borrowing externally and shy away from commercial borrowing. This is particularly critical as we move along. The other thing is that we have to cut back and focus on our real priorities. You will recall that in the very early days of President Ruto’s Government, he made a pronouncement that he was cutting back about Ksh300 billion of expenditure programmes that were not regarded as priority expenditure. So, this programme of both fiscal consolidation of those that require enhanced revenue collection and also refocussing on our priorities will continue for as long as it takes. I want to confirm that the subsidy on fertilisers will have to be with us for a little longer, and indeed I want to confirm that this has been factored in the 2023/2024 Budget so that we can continue to focus on production and productivity. On consumption subsidies, I would like us to say that we cannot in all sincerity sustain it. As a nation, we have to be honest with ourselves, and one of the areas that I can give you as an example is that when there was the subsidy on fuel, it was costing the Government of Kenya, which includes yourselves as taxpayers, about Ksh16 to Ksh20 billion per month. That was impossible to sustain. So, no matter who would be in the driving seat of Government, it is not practical to sustain that kind of subsidy. However, even as the Government removed the subsidy on petrol, we were alive to the fact that diesel is used in public transport, by the farmers and other critical areas. We have maintained some measure of subsidy on it and also on kerosene because it affects the ordinary man more than anything else. Hon. Speaker, when we talk about fertiliser, it is not just the one used for planting but it also includes top dressing fertilisers that may be required in other areas. I also want to assure the Member for Wajir that in my statement, I mentioned that there are also livestock programmes to support livestock farmers or pastoralists who have lost their livestock. I gave a figure of about 2.5 million herds of cattle, goats and sheep combined. They lost a lot of money through loss of livestock during the drought period. With our development partners, there are efforts to support them in restocking, and to also support offtake as we move forward. It is absolutely critical that the efforts that come into this sector are holistic, and not directed to the isolation of the livestock farmer. 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."
}