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"id": 124528,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/124528/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Mbau",
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"speaker": {
"id": 182,
"legal_name": "Elias Peter Mbau",
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"content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I wish to contribute on this very, very important Bill of ensuring that public resources are rationally utilized for the benefit of Kenyan taxpayers, subject to some certain amendments. I believe that will come at the Committee Stage. I would be willing to support this Bill. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to join my colleague, Prof. Ongeri, in telling this House that this Bill needs to work for Kenya and I want to thank the Mover for finding time to put sense in a Bill that can come to the Floor of the House, so that it can meet our views and our contributions. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, first and foremost, the current position where the Government can comprise of more than 40 Ministers, and as the current situation stands, as many as double the number of Assistant Ministers and equally huge number of Permanent Secretaries, only means that we are running a bloated Government. But suffice it to say, for political expediency, to address the situation currently obtaining, we may wish to say that bringing the number of Ministers to a lesser level may not be advisable. But this Bill is talking about putting or operationalizing the stipulations of the Bill when it is enacted for the next Government and not for the current situation. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, this Bill will help the country to save colossal resources which will go towards other more needy services for the country. The Bill talks about the need to ensure integrity of Ministers as well as the level of enlightenment and education that should be in keeping with the current needs of governance. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I would want to talk about or to call for parameters, criteria or guidelines that will spell what we mean by integrity of persons who shall be regarded as Ministers or who shall be appointed as Ministers. I talk about this because we currently have many officers holding positions of authority and responsibility in the Government; many of them who have tainted images in the eyes of the public, but only because there has not been evidence to prosecute and to ensure that such persons are properly sanctioned, they continue to hold positions of responsibility even when they do not merit. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is true, and my colleagues have said, that we have many other countries in the world which have huge economies and huge populations and whose Cabinet size is only about 15, 20 and, at most, 25 like Israel, the USA, New Zealand and others. Kenya cannot continue to be a country that is developing; that will want to keep on wanting, to seek donor financing and yet the financing is coming to run recurrent expenditures that can easily be avoided. When you look at certain Ministries, for example, the Ministry of Planning and National Development and the Ministry of Finance, they should essentially be one Ministry. If you look at the Ministry of Medical Services and the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, for heavenâs sake, those, essentially, should be one Ministry. The Ministry of Roads and the Ministry of Public Works should also be one Ministry. That would ensure that we ease"
}