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"id": 191046,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Ngugi",
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"legal_name": "David Mwaniki Ngugi",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this very important Motion. It is very well known that in the governance of the country, there are always three arms: the Executive, the Legislature, which is Parliament, and the Judiciary. Unless those three arms check on each other and work in harmony, there is bound to be some imbalance. In the making of July 2, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1557 the Budget, what has been happening is that the Government has been the one that has been making the Budget. It has been deciding for the people. Parliament, which is the peoples' representative, is used just to rubber-stamp or endorse. But it has nothing really serious to contribute. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was very disappointed the other day when we were debating the taxation measures here. We spent a whole day, as a Committee of the House, making suggestions on how we could improve the taxation measures. For example, we said that to zero- rate gym equipment for hotels is not enough. Gym equipment is not only used by hotels, it is also used by clubs and people in their homes. It caters for the health of the people. But to just restrict it to hotels is a bit narrow. When we made our proposals to the House, they were not taken into account. We were just told that the taxation measures are passed without amendments. The proposed Fiscal Analysis and Appropriation Committee will address such matters. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you can compare this Committee with the CDF Committee. Since the introduction of CDF, you can see how the country has been transformed. The people are involved in deciding the priorities of their projects. It has helped to improve this country. What we are asking for in this Committee is almost similar to the CDF, where the people are the originators of the projects to be funded. When this is done, then, the process will be more transparent. It will involve more people and better suggestions will come in instead of only a few technocrats sitting in a room year in, year out with the same minds. These technocrats do not even consult others and they come up with a Budget. This is why this country has been following policies that sometimes are not in tandem with the wishes of Kenyans. If we have such a Committee it will not only be a window to open up the Budget-making process, but it will enrich both the ideas that can be brought into the Budget and the priorities that Kenyans can make. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, developed countries, such as the USA, Australia and Germany, have such committees. Even in Africa, two of the most progressive countries; Uganda and South Africa, have such a committee. Yet, ourselves here and we are supposed to be a regional leader, we do not have such a committee. This is why it is so important that the Kenyan Budget- making process should be in line with what is happening in the rest of the world. This Motion is so important for this House because hon. Members spend 65 per cent of their time in this House discussing finance matters. They spend so much time discussing matters related to the Budget but in most times, they are not well informed because the matters have not been researched. The Estimates are presented to Parliament two days before the Budget is read on Thursday. We have no time to scrutinise and critic them. This is not fair to this House and country. This is why this Motion is trying to liberate the Budget making process. The 65 per cent of the time that hon. Members spend discussing matters of finance and Budget, they can do so from a point of knowledge. This is the only way to provide equity. We have been crying in this House and country that we want equitable distribution of resources. There is no other way other than through a transparent and open process; a process that starts right from the village and comes up. When it is all done by the technocrats, it goes to such a committee. This Committee can then examine what has come up. The wishes of the country can be prioritised. There is no other way. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we want to get equity and properly distribute the resources of this country, or to maximize our resources, this is the only way. Any other way is what we have tried and experimented with in the past, but it did not work. This is why this Motion is so important. Even the Minister for Finance himself found out that this is important and timely. When the he was reading his Budget, he felt that this Motion was coming in order to bring a Bill and liberate that process. He alluded that he wanted to bring an organic Bill to liberate the Budget process, but the Bill that could be brought by the Ministry of Finance is not necessarily the same as that one which could emanate, or come, from this House. This is a home-grown solution, which is 1558 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 2, 2008 transparent. This is what will give this country what it wants. I would like to say that bringing this Motion and the Bill that is intended does not take away the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Finance and the Minister will remain with their core mandate. This will only be giving help to the Minister, the Ministry, and will even be helping the country, so that nobody can point a finger that this or that region is favoured, or not taken care of, because the Budget making process will have involved all and been scrutinized and agreed upon. So, it will make the work of the Minister for Finance much easier. That is why all of us ought to rise and say that this Motion is timely. I know that it was there during the last Parliament; It went to through the Second Reading but did not see the light of day. We cannot afford to lose any more time, especially when our people are clamouring for openness, transparency and involvement in deciding the destiny of their lives. That is why all of us should support this Motion, and ask that the intended Bill be brought to the House as quickly as possible. With those very few remarks, I beg to support the Motion."
}