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{
    "id": 188948,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/188948/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 164,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Okemo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 198,
        "legal_name": "Chrysanthus Barnabas Okemo",
        "slug": "chrysanthus-okemo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I wish to thank the Minister for a very comprehensive Statement but there are a few clarifications that I would like to seek from him. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Minister kept referring to Government initiated loans and then I think towards the end of his Statement, he did mention that, although these were Government initiated loans, they did not amount to loans guaranteed by the Government. So, could he clarify to this House that if these loans were not to the Government and were not guaranteed by the Government, what was the basis for the Government taking them over? Basically, that is what they have done. You can use \"recapitalisation\" and all those technical terms which are very impressive to non- economists but they really mean very little. I think the most important thing here is that the Minister should clarify to this House Government initiated loans that were not guaranteed by the Government. He actually went on to mention things like the London-look taxis, SpareWorld Limited, Cyper Enterprises and Kenya Uniforms. These are private companies. Now, if a private company is given a contract by the Government, why should the Government get involved in lending it money through a commercial bank? So, I think the Minister should make a clarification of that. Mr. Speaker, Sir, secondly, the Minister very conveniently avoided what I expected him to comment on which was the restructuring of the loans being done simultaneously with privatisation of the National Bank of Kenya (NBK). In fact, one exercise without the other is meaningless. Could the Minister clarify to the House whether restructuring of NBK without privatising it is sustainable? I ask so because if you look at the books of accounts of the NBK, you will find that huge profits have been registered but if you have a careful look, you will find that the basis of those profits is actually charging accruing interest on non-performing loans. Now, he is removing non- performing loans through restructuring. How will the bank be able to sustain itself without cash flow? Mr. Speaker, Sir, thirdly, could he clarify whether this restructuring stands alone or whether it is in any way connected with the intended privatisation of NBK? If so, there is a worrying trend at the Ministry of Finance. If you look at many of the things happening, each and every activity seems to be aimed at avoiding the privatisation process. Yesterday we had the Kenya Petroleum Refinery Limited which is a very clever way of avoiding privatisation. The Grand Regency Hotel, which we are investigating is another case in point. The NBK is another point but I think we want to catch this one before it happens."
}