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{
    "id": 1461493,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1461493/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 286,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Lagdera, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Abdikadir Mohamed",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this debate on Consolidated Fund Services expenditures. The problem of this country is about loans and public debt. If you look at the CFS expenditures, the first charge is about Ksh2.08 trillion. These are the loans we pay - the principal amount, the interest and also the salaries for constitutional office holders like judges, President and Deputy President. What do we collect in a year? Last year, we collected about Ksh2.7 trillion. Almost 70 per cent of our revenues go to CFS expenditures. We also have to finance our recurrent and development expenditure. This makes us borrow more money, but I think there is a way that we can reduce this reliance on loans. Middle East normally gives grants: free money with no interest and repayments. Since the year 2015, Ksh15 billion has been given as grants by Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia through Saudi Fund and Kuwait through Kuwait Fund. Some of them were meant for projects within my constituency. The Modogashe-Samatar Road was paid for using the Kuwait Fund and this money has not been utilised. For one single reason, we are told that the staff at the National Treasury think they can get nothing from grants. They prefer to borrow loans because they can get something. I think this is a case of economic sabotage. As Hon. Mbadi reports to the National Treasury, he should deal with some of the staff who have not been processing grants for the last 15 years because they will get nothing. I think he should deal with them ruthlessly. We closed the last financial year with almost Ksh220 billion in pending bills. I am a Member of this committee and a certain department had almost Ksh20 billion in pending bills in the last financial year. They were told that this pending bill should be their first charge this financial year. This means, they will have a budget cut of almost Ksh20 billion. We will continue creating a financial hole for our departments. The National Treasury should avoid having pending bills from one financial year to another and telling departments to pay them as a first charge. If they closed the year with Ksh20 billion in pending bills, it means this financial year’s budget will be reduced by another Ksh20 billion. We are just creating another financial hole. My colleagues have talked on the issue of the Treasury Single Account. I want to add that once we have this account, commercial banks will lose. This is the money they are lending to Kenyans and the Government. We need to balance the interest rates of the commercial bank and the Government. If we have a Treasury Single Account this does not mean we move everything from commercial banks to it. We must be careful because I am sure banks will not like this story. Going back to my point about the grants, the Government should look at the side of Middle East. I am sure this can be a very good deal for us and will reduce our dependence on loans from China or Western countries. The National Treasury should move with speed and process the pending Ksh15 billion grant from the Saudi Fund before this money is withdrawn by the country. I am sure by now, they want to take that money back."
}