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"content": "morning we learnt that the Minister for Finance was going to bring this Motion on Vote on Account, we called a meeting of Members of the Parliamentary Budget Committee. Members came and we held a meeting that lasted one-and-half hours. I want to apologise to Mr. Mungatana, because he was not in that meeting this afternoon, but I must admit that my colleague, former Chairman, Mr. Martin Ogindo, was in that Committee. We deliberated on this matter at length, as my colleague, Mr. John Mbadi, earlier on said. We all agreed that there is great need to jump-start the economic activities of this country. We also noted that recently when the Minister for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 launched the Economic Survey Report, he said that the economy has been growing at a slow pace of 1.7 per cent. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Budget that was presented by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance is a Budget that has been aplauded across the country. It is a very balanced Budget that is going to increase economic activities in every corner of this Republic. We note that the concerns that my colleague, and Mover of this amendment, raised are genuine; we need to caution the Ministry of Finance, or the Treasury, in so far as spending public concerns wantonly is concerned. We are the representatives and the watchdog of the public but, at the same time, we cannot stand here and say that we are so keen, or careful, that even when we want to stimulate development activities, we at the same time want to keep on putting breaks on those activities. I note that, for instance, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, required money yesterday to ensure that the dams and the various irrigation projects that need to supply food at the end of the year, as it was anticipated in the Budget, should begin putting those programmes in place. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we do not give money to these Ministries now, we are going to take rather long to do so. It is good for us to note, for instance, that the procurement procedures of this country take rather long, and that when they take that long, they lead to delayed implementation of projects and programmes. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to remind my colleague Mr. Mungatana that the Fiscal Management Act, even though the President has kindly assented to it and can be published anytime, it is not yet operational. It will only become operational after 90 days. We may not now say that we are operating within the law as prescribed by that Act. I am the author of that law and when I say that, I know what I mean. It is good for us to note that even the monies that we are anticipating that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance is going to disburse, only come after taxes have been collected. Collection of revenue takes sometime. For instance, I know many companies and corporations only give their tax returns on a quarterly basis. This means, for example, October. Therefore, we are talking about allowing the Minister to spend 50 per cent which is not necessarily going to be available for spending. It is going to take some time for revenue to be generated and taxes to be collected. It does not mean that when we say, âuse 50 per centâ the money is there to be used. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to oppose this amendment very dutifully and with all due respect to my colleagues. It is good for us to be alert, forward looking and know we want development to go to our areas. I support that we must move fast with the mood of the House and support the 20 per cent of the account."
}