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"id": 176498,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/176498/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Eseli",
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"speaker": {
"id": 141,
"legal_name": "David Eseli Simiyu",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support the Motion. I thank the movers of this Bill, especially hon. Elias Mbau, who came before the House and asked for leave to present the Bill. I would also like to congratulate them for the short time taken to actually bring the Bill to the House. This Bill is long overdue because it removes the mystery around budget making in this country. The mystery surrounding budget making in this country has actually made some Ministers of Finance feel that they are next to God. In fact, some of them believe that they are God himself, because of the mystery surrounding the making of the Budget. I think this mystery surrounding the budget is what has made us talk about an imperial presidency, because what happens is that, there is a situation where the holder of that office, both holds the knife and the yam, and decides who he gives a portion to and who he will not give a portion to, to the extent that some parts of this country have been denied development because of that sort of situation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I believe that if we pass this Bill, one of the positive outcomes will be that the country might now position itself on the path to industrialization, when this House actually does have a say in the process of budget making. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, without repeating too much of what has been said before, the current controversy has been on the taxation of hon. Members and their willingness or unwillingness to pay taxes. As it has been alluded to before, this could be a reflection of the wider feeling of the society - that the wider feeling of the society is that, their taxes appear not to be accounted for properly. If you ask the majority of the people, they would rather not pay taxes if they do not know what those taxes are going to do. But this gives us a chance to account for it. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I like Part III, Clause 2(f), a national budget and budgetary process that promotes transparency, accountability and effective management of the economy and the public sector. Some allocations that we have been coming across, are totally inexplicable. You find something put in the Budget and you cannot explain what purpose that particular item will serve, yet it is there and we cannot question it. In fact, when they bring it here, we just end up being a rubber stamp. It is important because we are going through a very difficult phase in Kenya's life right now. There is the food crisis, the unemployment rate, especially among the youth and we realise that there are certain things that can be done to alleviate some of these situations. Now, we have a severe food crisis but somebody stands up here and tells us about Kshs700 million to either buy or build a new office for the Prime Minister. That should not be a priority! Surely, we could even come to this House--- That is why I like Part III, Clause 6(4)(a): The Government may deviate from the principles of prudent fiscal management if the Minister states the reasons for the departure. This would have been a very good situation for us to say: Okay; this Kshs700 million should go to food relief or to subsidizing the farmers, so that we ensure that we have food security in this country. At least, we will have a say in the destiny of our country. As at the moment, we do not seem to have a say in our destiny. In fact, Budget making, for us Backbenchers, is like crystal gazing; you want to know what might happen, or else you go grovelling into Ministries to see whether they can allocate a morsel of that Budget to the people in 3894 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES December 4, 2008 your constituency. But if this was opened up, we will know very well why we want to build a water dam in Machakos or in North Eastern Province. We will know why we want to put some boats on Lake Victoria. We will know exactly what we are doing and what we are doing it for. Any officer failing to implement--- That is the more reason why I like this Bill; we will have a chance to reprimand and punish that sort of person. So, if we have someone or a department that is always allocated funds that are never utilised, or if they are at all, it is not in the right manner, we will have a chance to not just reprimand them but also withhold any further budgetary allocation to that department. I think that is the beauty of this; it will force people to work for us rather than for themselves. This is because if any department will fail to meet the standards that we will have set, then they will have to answer for it. Any officer identified who will persistently be a stumbling block or a saboteur will be identified and dealt with. As happens now, there are, indeed, some saboteurs within our system, where you get a budgetary allocation made and funds available, but for some reason, they just decide not to use it because, probably, they want to bring down the Minister in charge of that Ministry or department. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have heard complaints of Ministers who feel their officers are letting them down by not implementing what was supposed to be implemented by that Ministry. A budgetary allocation has been made and some officers just sit on it. Eventually, some of the money has to go back to the Treasury, or is taken to a different project. At least, we will be able to identify these sort of people and deal with them, once and for all. I believe we should pass this Bill, so that it becomes an Act of Parliament and I urge the powers that be, the wielders of the knife and the yam, that when we pass this Bill, it will become an Act of Parliament as soon as possible because, without repeating myself too much, it will save this country. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}