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{
    "id": 1353034,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1353034/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 250,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "where you find public officers who earn from taxpayer's money earn double the salary of the President of this Country. You wonder what it is that they are doing. What is so special about those offices that they are holding? It is because we set the institution including the Constitutional Commissions where we have given them the powers to even set the salaries of CEOs. I like the spirit in this Bill where we are granting this authority to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). It is my hope that we shall make the necessary adjustments so that the SRC makes a determination, does a study and sets public, salary for anybody who earns from taxpayer’s money at a certain level. We have appreciated that the reason we find ourselves in the economic quagmire that we are in presently in is because of unregulated borrowing and wanton Government spending. Expenditure on the public side is uncontrolled, unmeasured, and unchecked. That is why we are in this particular situation. Our operations and maintenance are at a whooping Kshs600 billion per annum. You wonder what is it that the Government needs that it consumes a cool Kshs50 billion every month to run; it is because of such things. We expect the SRC and other constitutional commissions to help us resolve this. I have challenges with Clause15 (1) of the Bill. It states that – “The Controller or a member of staff of the Office of the Controller, or a person acting on the directions of the Controller, shall not be personally liable to any action, claim or demand whatsoever for any matter or thing done in the performance of the functions of the office of the Controller and in good faith”. It speaks to personal liability for action taken. I accompanied the President early this week when he went to address the European Union (EU) Parliament. He had bilateral meetings with certain Heads of State while there. I do not want to mention which ones in particular because some of these things are sensitive. On our way, I saw him prepare, as it is his norm when we were on the plane. He was reading his notes when he mentioned something and it struck my curiosity. There is a county government in this country that entered into a dispute with an investor from one of the European countries and they kicked him out of a business that he had built over the years. The gentleman has gone to court and was awarded Kshs500 million that the Government of Kenya needs to compensate him. It is one of the issues that keeps on coming up when the President has bilateral as his resident country because he is a European. Every time the President meets those people on bilateral relations issues between the two countries, he is told that there is a small matter of our citizens who came to your Country and we spoilt his business. They go ahead to mention that fortunately our judicial system is up to date and that he has an award of Kshs.500 million. They request the President to go on and pay. The question on my mind is, if we continue to put such provisions as provided in Clause 15(1) of this Bill where public servants know that they can make whatever decision it does not matter because they do not bear personal culpability for their decisions, are we not exposing ourselves?"
}