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"id": 1550645,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1550645/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": {
"id": 41,
"legal_name": "Adan Wehliye Keynan",
"slug": "adan-keynan"
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"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. The Division of Revenue Bill 2025 has come at a time— I am sure most Members are not aware— when the Supreme Court – and I want the Chairman to listen – made a decision a few days ago on the initiation, origination and passage of any money-related Bill. And I want to thank you; I know you are one of the lawyers who are involved. Therefore, the hullabaloo that we used to have with the Senate is no more. I am sure that is news to many of us here. This is purely within the mandate and preserve of the National Assembly. Chairman,I am sure you must have heard that. We support the existence of our two Houses, the Senate and the National Assembly, but I am sure you will have an easy time right now because of that determination made by the Supreme Court – I think that was Petition No. 17 of 2021. I thank the Supreme Court for finally putting this to rest so that Members of the National Assembly can function in line with their mandate of the budget-making process. Secondly, this Bill has two aspects… However, before I go to that level, I want to congratulate the Member for Alego Usonga Constituency. To the best of my recollection, the constituency has produced two great minds and many others. Do you remember the late Hon. Castro Peter Oloo Aringo? Right now, we have my friend, Hon. Samuel Atandi Onunga. Of course, I am not in any way demeaning all the others who are there, but I am told that he is the only one after Castro Aringo who has done three terms. Congratulations. He is our Chairman. When I was first elected, the budget-making process used to be purely the preserve of the Executive. I was appointed to this very Committee of Finance in 1998 with Mzee Oburu Odinga, the late Michuki, the late Njenga Karume, Mzee Adan Mohamed Noor, and the former Member of Parliament, Simon Mkalla, who was our Chairman. What we used to do then is very different from what is happening right now. It means that the role of a Member of Parliament has been completely redefined. I want us to deal with the politics of the Division of Revenue Bill and the actual allocation of resources. Luckily, some of us have been part and parcel of the making and framing of the current Constitution, and we have the notes. What we have is an economic devolution and not a confederation. It is not a federal system. There is need to look at our governance structure so that those individuals now tasked with implementing this are seized of what we intended to have in the different provisions of the current Constitution, because I see a bit of confusion. As long as we have that confusion, it will be difficult to realise the gains of the current Constitution as intended by the framers. Once upon a time, Kenya was an economic hub. Today, we have been barely reduced to a struggling nation. I just ask myself; how about one morning, what if the managers, particularly the Executive, decide to mint paper money? Luckily, since Independence, those who have been at the helm of the Kenyan Government are people who have a vested interest in business. What if you get a popular, streetwise leader? They will print money because they will not understand the essence of having money. They just need to ask the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) if they can have loads of Ksh1,000 notes, like what the late Idi Amin did. That would bring in inflation, cause devaluation of the Kenyan currency, contribute to the erasure of the purchasing power of the people, and ultimately lead to the collapse of the economy. 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."
}