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{
    "id": 1382367,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1382367/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 253,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ndhiwa, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Martin Owino",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I want to support this Report. There are some idioms that teach us. For example, debt is slavery to those who are free. If those who are free are grossly indebted, they become slaves of the lender as is in this case. Hon. Sir George is a friend of mine. If you see him repeatedly biting off what he cannot chew, he will choke over it. The situation in our country is serious when it comes to debt. Somebody said that for fiduciary responsibility of this House, let us stop lamenting but oversee the Executive so that it does not go overboard. How I understand the Budget Policy Statement is that it is a plan of action. We have now come up with the mid-term strategies as the policy action plan that should be followed when doing stuff. In following that, I think, as a House, we amended our Standing Orders that we should get reports from those Ministries every three months. Let us not rely on auditors' reports. All these yearly reports are done too late when things have already happened. However, if we can follow closely and see what is being done after every three months, then we can prevent some of those things. I think that is the right intervention we should tap into. There is something here, which I think is very grave as well. The fidelity to the plans which we put in place. For example, over 90 per cent of what we pay is interest; not principle. There is also another animal called exchange rate. Every time our shilling is down, we pay Ksh40 billion to the loan because of the exchange rate. So, the National Treasury should be uptight in making sure that the Kenyan shilling does not fall that gravely to the dollar. I want to make a point that has been cited many times on contingency spending as stipulated in the notorious Article 223 of the Constitution. This is what puts the Government way over what they are supposed to be spending whenever they are allocated money. Perhaps, we need to amend the Article. I know there will be a lot of resistance, but spending before and 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"
}