Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 1352724,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1352724/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 2484,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kaiti, WDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Joshua Kimilu",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "three months after the rains subside, we will be crying because of lack of water. People will be walking for many kilometres to look for water. Our economy is not doing well. It will help if we had water in areas like the Lower Eastern Region, which does not have rains for purposes of irrigation. If we engage in farming, we can improve our food security and avoid looking for money for relief food or asking donors to give relief food to our people. It is very surprising that we borrow a lot of money but still have too many stalled projects across the country. It will be beneficial if we could borrow the money and use the balance to complete projects in our country. Hon. Temporary Speaker, with the current economy, it is true that we need money to support our Budget. As we can see, our country’s debt ceiling is approaching Ksh10 trillion. It is a threat to our country. We need to be open to each other as we are borrowing money. The blame game between those in the previous regime and those in current regime should stop. Those in the current Government should take the mantle and move on. We want to see what they are going to do with the money they are borrowing. We want to see the stalled projects being completed. Yesterday I went to my constituency. There is a road which links Kasikeu and Kilungu. This road cuts across two counties. As we speak, the road has been cut off by floods. There is no road link between Maasailand and Kambaland through the Kasikeu-Kilungu Road. It is a serious issue that needs a lot of assistance. When I approached the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA), they told me that there is no money. Now you see how the people of Kaiti will suffer because the road has been cut off. We depend on agriculture. Now we cannot transport our yields from the lower side to upper side. We cannot transport our produce from Kaiti to Nairobi through that road because it has already been cut off. I think these are some of projects that should be prioritised, if we borrow. We have no other ways. As a country, we need to chart the way forward. Despite the fact that we are borrowing, I saw the current Government trying to increase taxes to increase the revenue. This is not the way to go because the more we increase taxes, the less revenue we are going to collect. Instead, we will create more poor people. We will create poverty in our country. Instead of creating an atmosphere for our people to do business to create revenue, we will be creating a problem for our country. As we undertake our projects, we need to address the loopholes through which we lose public funds. One loophole that we have in our country is corruption. We borrow money but almost a half of it goes into peoples’ pockets. We divert it and lose focus. We need to fight this animal of borrowing. If we seal the loopholes of corruption, we will be in a position to do great things for our country. Why do we borrow? We borrow to meet our needs. Sometimes we approve budgets knowing very well that we do not have enough resources to finance it. Time has come for us, as a country, to chart the way forward in terms of seeing how we can avoid this heavy borrowing. I remember when this Government took over the leadership of the country, they said that they would not borrow but now they are borrowing even more than the previous regime. I think we need to do something. We need to chart the way forward. We need to see how we can be independent. We can use the little resources that we have if we concentrate, for example, with one item like infrastructure and make sure that we have good roads that give our villages access to the market. If we have good roads, farmers in Western, Nyanza and Central Kenya can transport their produce to the market and generate revenue for this country. I support the Report but I advise the Government to avoid over-borrowing. Thank you."
}