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{
    "id": 1352737,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1352737/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 2497,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Laikipia East, TSP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Mwangi Kiunjuri",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "We need to ask ourselves when the rain started beating us. The loans we are discussing today are an accumulation of previous loans. They were not taken last year. We are talking about loans which had been taken since the Government of Mwai Kibaki, the administration of Uhuru Kenyatta and now the administration of William Samoei Ruto. We need to ask ourselves how Kibaki managed his loans. At what time did our appetite for loans supersede the reasons for borrowing? How have we been managing our loans? Have we been able to evaluate ourselves? Did we have a plan before we took the loans? Even in business, you must have a business plan of what you intend to do and the expected outcome. If you get a moratorium, for how long? If you are repaying your loan, at what juncture will you bridge the gap and start getting profit? This is because a loan is always a loan whether taken by mama mboga, an industrialists or government. The end game is that when a government borrows, there is a grace period whereby at a particular juncture, we shall break even. If we are borrowing to build roads, it might take 50 years before the country starts benefitting from that loan. Maybe, you are borrowing to construct a certain road or provide electricity in a certain area to trigger economic activities. A loan is supposed to stimulate the economy in one way or another in the short-term or the long-term. When we took a loan to build the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), we were told that we will start reaping the benefits 50 years later. I agree with that. The loans we are taking today to build roads will take another 20 years to gain. We must ask ourselves if today, we are talking of eradicating hunger and the high cost of living, if we start blame games of who took the loan, how it was used and how the next one will be taken, we will not address the issues we are facing. This administration is only one year old. The loans we are paying were taken five, six or seven years ago. We know how bonds were taken. We cannot ask this administration to explain to Kenyans why we are in a deep hole. It is very clear that we have debts and whoever comes in even after William Samoei Ruto will shoulder the responsibility of paying loans that his administration will have taken. We must repay the loans borrowed by the previous governments. It is high time we started planning. Kenyans need information, so that they can understand every step we are taking to stabilise this economy. Already, we are in the deep sea. The waves and the undercurrents are very strong for us. So, how do we navigate to safety? We need to think of short-term and not long-term solutions. Looking at all the loans tabulated here, some have gone to the pastoralist economy, some to the agriculture value chain, and some to concessional short-term loans. 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."
}