Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 1261800,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1261800/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 153,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "There is a rationale of having an absolute figure. When I joined this House in 2014 and found Hon. (CPA) Mbadi, we had a figure of Ksh2.5 trillion. We doubled that to Ksh5 trillion in the Financial Year 2014/2015, if I remember well. Then we moved it in 2018. When I was chairing the Budget and Appropriations Committee, there was a proposal to increase the debt ceiling to Ksh10 trillion. The Budget and Appropriations Committee then was of the view that we either revert to the debt anchor that we are now reverting to, where we are able to measure our public debt in terms of ratios, or we maintain our public debt ceiling at Ksh7.5 trillion up to June, 2024. Hon. John Mbadi was a member of that Committee. We had a heated argument with the National Treasury then. We actually sat in this Chamber. They insisted that they wanted at least Ksh9 trillion, which we gave them. Hon. John Mbadi will recall that, that money was to sustain us up to June 2024. Last year, they came back to us requesting that we move the ceiling up to Ksh10 trillion. Many of us opposed that move. During debate on that matter, I reminded them that three years back, we had asked them to move to a debt anchor, which signals to indicate that we are getting to the red line but at that time nobody listened to us. Today the National Treasury can opt to come back to us to have the debt ceiling raised to Ksh12 trillion or Ksh15 trillion. The question we need to ask ourselves is: What do these absolute figures measure? They are just figures. I hear CPA Mbadi say that it is guesswork. Unlike John Mbadi, I will avoid using the term “guesswork” but those figures are basically 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."
}