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{
    "id": 145346,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/145346/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 413,
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    "content": "considered opinion that the culture of impunity in this country has got to stop, if this country has to make any development at all. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we visited the road from Garissa to Hola which has been assigned to the National Youth Service (NYS). We are wondering what became of the NYS. Do they have the capacity and knowledge to construct such a big road? You will find that a lot of money has been spent on the same road, but it is not complete. You will find that a contract has been signed detailing the specifications, but because of incapacity of the contractor, the same will not be done on time. As a result, the Ministry, citizens and the entire country lose. It is our sincere hope that the NYS will be stopped completely from undertaking any major road in this country, unless it is equipped, its officers trained and have the capacity to undertake such a road. If you move round the country, you will note that various roads have been done. In some cases, the contractors have been awarded contracts to do the roads, but they stop midstream and get away with it. Although many court cases concerning these contractors are pending, they are still awarded other contracts. We have the Musau-Wundanyi- Werugha-Mugange-Bura Road in Taita which was awarded to a contractor who did not do it satisfactorily. The engineer in charge signed the certificate and the contractor was paid. When a further inspection was done, the road was found to be substandard and the contractor was ordered to re-do it. But the big question is: “What happened to the engineer who signed the certificate in the first instance? He was merely transferred to another station. The contractor was awarded another contract in Nyeri and they shared the loot. For how long will this continue in this country? It is high time this type of corruption was stopped. Unless Parliament puts its foot down, these officers and errant contractors will continue behaving the way they are doing. It is time the entire corrupt officers in the Government were brought to book. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, given the fact that my colleagues would like to contribute to this Motion, let me touch on two other aspects. The issue of officers getting imprests which they did not account for featured prominently in all the Ministries we covered. When it was demanded, the officers colluded with either the personnel or chief officers, and the officer concerned was transferred. During our evidence, we found out that the Accounting Officers did not even bother to find out where the officer holding the imprests went. When did Ministries become banks to keep on loaning officers money so that it could be recovered or deducted from their salaries for a period of 36 months? We may need to change the Banking Act to include Ministries. If that is what the Ministries want to do, let them do it while following the law. At the moment, our Committee abhorred the manner in which the Accounting Officers let scot-free all the imprest holders we found in all the Ministries. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of the Local Authorities Transfer Fund (LATF) has been touched by the Chairman. The LATF ought to be managed by the local authorities. In a number of cases, the officers concerned could not meet the set conditions and yet they were chief officers who were charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the LATF money which has been disbursed or ought to be disbursed should be spent for the benefit of the wananchi. As you have heard, almost 61 per cent of that money could not be availed due to laxity. This is the case and yet the chief officers continue drawing their fat salaries. It is high time such impunity was stopped or brought to an end."
}