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{
    "id": 1378602,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1378602/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 258,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Navakholo, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Emmanuel Wangwe",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Speaker, I thank the Committee for pinpointing and concurring with the Office of the Auditor-General on outstanding works, stalled projects and how they were started. I want to veer from the Report and go to a case which happened recently, where a witness stated that a project cost was Ksh3.9 billion but initially, it was Ksh900 million. A whooping 340 per cent increment in variation! What informed this variation? How come the law was violated to that extent? Where is the Inspectorate of State Corporations? We need to bring all those persons on board. Looking at the Committee’s recommendations, I wish to thank my party Chairman, Hon. John Mbadi. This is the way to go. Let us push it so that the buck can stop with the right person. The Public Accounts Committee does not have the teeth to investigate thoroughly and engage organisations like the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), which have the mandate to present the witnesses before the courts of law. I appreciate that together with Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), various recommendations have been made. The challenge we have is what happened in the past. Has the past been resolved? No! I ask the various agencies, EACC and DCI, to support each other because this is our country. If the Public Accounts Committee has all the papers and has tabled to start off the case, why can they not pick it up immediately we vote on this Report? Let them arrest those people. Once two or three culprits are brought to book, it will be a definite sign that any other person doing so shall take the same journey. Many officers will shy off from doing things in the hope that the money they get can buy their freedom. For instance, you will find someone has made an error or committed an offence but does not care. As long as they have the money, they will get the best lawyer, make their way out and survive. He is on the streets. You will make noise but they are walking, eating and are happy. It is my prayer that, through you Hon. Temporary Speaker, the agencies that are charged with this responsibility should take up these cases and bring them to book. Finally, the Committee has observed the issue of one-third of Kenyans’ salaries. It is true that whereas taxation is good, can we look at how we are lawfully imploring? Why should we overtax one’s payslip? Once we do that, the payslips will have to reduce. As the Committee puts it, let us help our officers who are working within the Government and the entire country by observing the one-third rule instead of pushing Kenyans beyond what they can survive on. Otherwise, this is a good Report which is long overdue. I appreciate the Chairman and the membership. The Report warrants a reading by all agencies and Kenyans. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I support."
}