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{
    "id": 1370584,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1370584/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 155,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "anywhere to store them and teachers to teach some of the subjects there. It made a lot of sense then, but Kenyans are never short of lofty words when they want to engineer procurement projects for the sole intention of fleecing taxpayers’ money. Mr. Speaker, Sir, that policy shifted back around in 2018 and 2019 where we saw again a decentralization and teachers were allowed to buy and do this and the other. Afterwards, we were presented with a report; I remember I was in this House because this question has been asked severally. The House was told the reason there was need to revert to the old order was that one school in Kakamega will buy a textbook for Kshs500 and another school in Vihiga, just next door, will buy it for Kshs750. A somewhat logical argument was presented and it was said why not centralize? The question should be what have we learnt from this attempted policy of centralizing and decentralizing the purchase of schoolbooks and materials and what measures have we put in place? I had seen the Senator of Murang’a, who is the Chairperson of the Committee on Education in the House, but he has since left. Nonetheless, I know there are Members of that Committee who are in the House, as we speak, and they will hear the comments on this particular question. The question they need to ask the Ministry when they appear before this House is what safety nets they have put in place out of the experience they have learnt. This is because it is an incontrovertible fact that there are pros and cons to both centralizing and decentralizing. If we are a country that learns and makes better decisions out of the experience we have had, the only thing we need to do is to ensure that we have put safety nets that will ensure whatever policy position we take on these items will mitigate and ensure that taxpayers’ money is protected. Mr. Speaker, Sir, if you put all procurement to be at Jogoo House, then let schools request for books, so that we do not dump them with books that they have not even asked for. There could be alumni that have donated books like in my county where I usually organize a county-wide alumni day. One of the things the alumni do is to donate books in huge numbers to schools that they went to. You will find that some schools may not need books that the national Government will send them. That is why it will be important to put a safety measure that a school must first request for particular books. Secondly and most important, should the Ministry choose to let it be handled at the school level, they should at least provide a pricing list, so that schools are properly guided. The schools will also know that they are not allowed to purchase Kiswahili Mufti (if it still exists), that is the one I can remember; for more than Kshs450. In that way, we will safeguard taxpayers’ money. Otherwise, if we have just an argument on whether to centralize or decentralize, then it will mean we have learnt nothing. That is not what Kenyans expect of a House that does oversight. Mr. Speaker, Sir, there is work for Members of the Committee on Education when the Ministry of Education appears before them. They should also pass those regulations here, so that by this time this policy decision is taken, we are well guided and will hold the Minister to account. Lastly, on the diplomatic relations between Kenya and the Kingdom of Morocco, I will not get into debate on the relations between the two countries and what needs to be"
}