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{
"id": 1258831,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1258831/?format=api",
"text_counter": 952,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mwala, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Vincent Musau",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Chairperson. Those are quite some credentials you have accorded me. I appreciate. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I rise to second this Supplementary Estimates II. First, allow me to thank the Budget and Appropriations Committee, which did a great job especially by accommodating most of the Chairpersons whose Budgets for their respective Ministries were affected by this Supplementary Budget. They sat up to late hours dealing with this. Often, we are never realistic with our budget projections. At the end of every financial year, we have to come to the drawing board and find a way to rationalise our budgets. On many occasions, the projections are over-estimated while the A-in-A that we project from our SAGAs is under- estimated. We need to confront this issue. For example, if you look at the current estimates and the financial statements presented to the National Treasury for our MDAs, you will find that barely two weeks down the line, they have already changed their estimates to ‘not applicable.” In most cases, there is an intention to understate the A-in-A that is projected to be collected. In all Supplementary Budgets II, there is a spending spree by most of the MDAs. Most of them spend this money in buying funny things like furniture, vehicles and going for workshops, because this money is set aside specifically for spending at the end of the financial year. Again, the energy sector is facing a new challenge where absorption is a problem. This is not necessarily absorption from the Exchequer, but on the process that leads to the absorption of foreign funding, which accounts for almost 80 per cent of their budgets. Those rigorous procedures and processes delay the absorption of resources. Hon. Temporary Speaker, we cannot discuss the Supplementary Budget II in isolation. As a country, we also need to have an honest discussion around budget financing. Every Budget in this House has a source of resources. Our discussions in this House are interesting, especially those around the Finance Bill. You will rarely find any Hon. Member who is uninterested on discussions relating to projects going to their respective constituencies. However, when it comes to the discussion on how to raise those funds, then we all want to play to the gallery without any due regard of how to raise resources to finance those budgets. It is only fair for us, as leaders, to tell the country that there are reasons for the actions that we are taking. We have failed in telling Kenyans the ‘why’ and only dwell on the ‘what,’ especially on revenue raising measures of the Finance Bill. We must tell Kenyans that the Kenya Kwanza Government inherited a shell of an economy because our predecessors decided to loot and carry money in sacks from our coffers. They borrowed everything they could, and now we are left with a huge burden that we cannot somehow run away from. Hon. Temporary Speaker, facts are stubborn. Our revenues are barely Ksh2.1 trillion. Our debt repayment is at Ksh1.4 trillion. This means if we collect Kshs2.1 trillion and pay our debts at 1.4 trillion, we are only left with Kshs700 billion, out of which our Recurrent Expenditure stands at Ksh600 billion. That then leaves us with Ksh100 billion. The county governments demand Ksh376 billion from the remaining Ksh100 billion. Even if you were to give them the Ksh100 billion, you have to borrow another Ksh276 billion. Therefore, as we discuss on revenue raising measures, I ask Members, especially from the other side of the political divide, not to play to the gallery. The easier way for us is not to expand the tax base in the country. It would be to summon the Former President, Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, and his brother who put us in this mess. They should tell us where those monies went. Then we can plug that deficit without targeting Kenyans to raise that money. As a country, we have a responsibility. There is no gain without pain. As we move towards the current estimates, I think 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."
}