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{
    "id": 176503,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/176503/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 178,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Midiwo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 184,
        "legal_name": "Washington Jakoyo Midiwo",
        "slug": "jakoyo-midiwo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if I find out that there is a deal going on, all I need to do, as a Member of Parliament, is to walk into the Office of the Controller and Auditor-General and say, \"Check this deal. Something is happening against the will of the people\". The Office of the Controller and Auditor-General must not be looked at as something that comes about to clean up Parliament or a body which Parliamentary Committees just sanction to do an audit after theft has occurred. It can also be used to prevent thievery! In fact, in many developed democracies, for example, Sweden, where I was recently, the Controller and Auditor-General told us that because everything is real time, there are no more cases of corruption. The only complaints they get are from people who have been violated or people who have done something unwarranted to an individual. They do not have cases of misallocation of funds. We need to go that direction. I want to thank Kenyans. All the pressure Kenyans are exerting on Members of Parliament and the Government is very warranted. This is because the time for change is now. This country must change. We can broaden our tax base. That is not a bad argument. I think Kenyans are doing so well. We, as their representatives, need to catch up with them. The time for change is now. We must open up Treasury, procurement procedures and appointments to public offices to the people of Kenyan. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to thank this House because last week, in the National Cohesion and Integration Bill, we passed that no single ethnic tribe shall be employed in one public company except one-third of the employees. This Parliament must scrutinise employment opportunities. You cannot go to a company in Kisumu, say, Kenya Power Lighting and Company (KPLC), only to find everybody there talking in Dhuluo, or you go to KenGen December 04, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3899 offices here in Nairobi and you find everybody there talking in Kikuyu. That is not the Kenya we want! We passed here last week that no single tribe shall be more than one-third of a public entity. I am surprised the Press has not highlighted that. However, we need to go out and talk to our people and convince them that unless we make necessary changes and live within our means, we will not have a future for ourselves, let alone our children. With this Bill, the era of white elephant projects will be gone. Yesterday, there was a Question here in Parliament about a road in Kamukunji Constituency. The Government sank Kshs78 million for the construction of that road, but the contractor has never been to the site. Such a thing will be a thing of the past because Parliament will now ask: \"Why are we giving that contractor money?\" Parliament will have authority so that we do not need to cry all the time against the Executive. If somebody keeps on punching you so much, you get used to those punches. You become very tough. I think Parliament needs to stop punching. We need to be proactive so that we can stop the plunder and the theft in Government. Here is a scenario where so many bad things have happened in our history. Yes, we can forget the past, but we need to define the future with good legislation. We need to agree that it is time to change. We must change with times. This Bill will ensure that there is affirmative action in the allocation of resources. That way, one day, when I become the President of this country, not everything will go to Gem Constituency or Luoland. The Parliament of the day will say no. This Parliament should also pass a law to ensure that the Government does not allocate so much money on water to a place like Kiambu where people have water and yet if you go to Garissa, nobody has water. Currently, Parliament has no say once such a thing is put in the Budget because we cannot change anything after the Budget has been read. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we must take charge as the people's representatives. Unless Parliament changes, I am sure Kenyans will be here to change us. I support."
}