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{
    "id": 1445974,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1445974/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 108,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "Those are facts that only Parliament can establish and that is why I urge our Committee on Finance and Budget to take that assignment seriously, so that we have a complete audit. There is a very important exercise that we have asked them to do. Mr. Speaker, Sir, if you can recall, last year, we passed a law that by 2027, our debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio needs to be at 55 per cent. We are now at 61 per cent, but we did not provide the roadmap of how to achieve that. I will not be surprised that we will gather again in this House in 2027 and realize that perhaps even that debt has grown beyond 61 per cent. Therefore, it is upon our colleagues who are in the Committee on Finance and Budget to tighten the noose and guard this House. There is only one way of achieving it; you must put a cap on the fiscal deficits that are allowed on the national budget year on year, from 2024 now to 2027 for us to achieve this 55 per cent. It is something that you can mathematically arrive at. Consequently, our Committee on Finance and Budget must lead us to amend Section 50 (2) (c) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) even further, so that we set a cap limit of fiscal deficit year on year. The reason the country is in this crisis in part, and to a larger extent, is because of the debt challenges that have forced the Government to either borrow or raise taxes, and we all know where this has led us to. The Standing Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs, and Human Rights (JLAHR) also has some serious work to do. One is the repeal of Sections 2 and 12A of the National Government Administration laws. This is with regard to the Chief Administrative Secretaries (CASs) as a sign of goodwill because we have said we want to have a lean and inexpensive Government. They also need to establish the legal mechanism for the merger of parastatals and state agencies that perform duplicate functions to achieve a lean Government. When the President addressed the nation about two weeks ago, he pointed out the fact that about 47 State agencies need to be merged as an effort towards the realization of a lean The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}