HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 195507,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/195507/?format=api",
"text_counter": 172,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kathuri",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 38,
"legal_name": "Emilio Mureithi Kathuri",
"slug": "emilio-kathuri"
},
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to contribute to this very important Motion. I stand to support the Supplementary Estimates that have been presented to this House by the Minister for Finance. But there are quite a number of issues that we must address, so that we also enable him perform his work better. It is true that the economy has been growing. We want him to sustain that growth. It is for the good of this country that we are able to sustain that growth; it is for us to develop Kenya. I understand that Kenya and Singapore were at par economically at the time of our Independence, but now we are worlds apart. This is unfortunate, but there is still time; we can catch up. However, for us to catch up, we must address the shortfalls that are making the Minister unable to perform as we expect him to. One, it is common knowledge to many of us that there is over-pricing when it comes to Government supplies. Anybody tendering is always over-pricing. The basic reason being that, when you supply your goods to the Ministry or you render services to the Ministry, you may take more than a year, or even two years, before you are paid. For sure, as a businessman, you cannot be able to put a thin margin because you have, maybe, borrowed money from the bank and you have to pay it back with interest. If it is interest for two years before you are paid, plus the degree of doubt that creeps in, you are definitely going to even load more than 100 per cent. That is definitely going to erode the performance of the Ministry. There is no way we will fail to have Supplementary Estimates every other year, if we are always being given services at rates that are not competitive. A part of that delay also comes as a result of corruption. For any case to be reached, you may find that you are required to part with some money! It is very, very important, maybe, for the Ministry of Finance to confirm whether there are some payments owed to suppliers which are dated more than a year ago. As I talk here, Embu District Hospital has been supplied with goods and services. Those suppliers were awarded those tenders through the district and yet, they have not been paid for the last two years or so. What do you expect that person to do if you tell him to tender again? He will definitely put in a 300 per cent margin! This is a very serious problem! It will definitely make the Minister to always be running short of cash when it comes to running the Government. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is also important for us to realize that, always, if we have to do imports on some of the basic commodities, we are wasting our resources. It is very sad that, at times, we even find that foodstuffs like rice are imported from outside the country. When you import foodstuff, it is a very big blow to the farmers. We end up draining our resources. The farmers get discouraged and, the following year, when he starts producing, there is flooding in the market of imported foodstuff. At the end of the day, we do not produce locally and we rely on imports. The Government finds itself spending money which goes out of the country. It is an issue we have to address! On that same issue, it is very sad that we have a board like the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB). It is supposed to be paying farmers promptly. All the small-scale farmers do not deliver their cereals directly to NCPB. They end up going through the middlemen. When they go through middlemen, they are short-changed at the end of the day! They are even paid less April 30, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 815 by Kshs400 from the recommended prices and, yet, that is the very farmer whom we expect to produce more, so that the Government does not have to allocate foreign currency to people to do importation! It is an issue which I think the Minister for Finance and other relevant departments can look into, so that we do not find ourselves always having a problem of approving Supplementary Estimates. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is also important for us to realize that countries that neighbour Kenya, or which are within Africa--- We happen to have visited some. In a country like Zambia, motor vehicle insurance premiums are far much lower than what we are charged in Kenya. At the end of the day, you will find that the cost of doing business in Kenya shoots up. Some of the money which we pay as premiums here ends up with re-insurance companies that are not local. That money ends up going into the pockets of foreigners and yet, we expect our economy to perform. It is an issue that we should think about. There was a Bill that was been presented here - unfortunately, before we were voted in - touching on African compensation. The Ministry of Finance does not appear to be willing to push that Bill through, so that it can become functional, at least, to correct some of the anomalies that have been making some of the insurance companies collapse in Kenya! Unfortunately, the ones that collapse are owned locally. The foreign companies that end up earning money from the economy are the ones that do quality business and they end up surviving. At the end of the year, when they make profits, they repatriate them back home and we are left broke! It is an issue which, I think, we cannot ignore if we really want our economy to perform better. We even note cases of motor vehicle owners; big operators operating in Kenya while they are registered outside Kenya, specifically in Tanzania. I happen to have attended one workshop whereby there was a big transporter who was saying that he is better off having registered his truck in Tanzania, for it to operate through Kenya and back to Tanzania. That leaves us at a disadvantage and I think we cannot afford to ignore such issues, if we really want to sustain the growth that the Ministry or the Government has realized since it came into power. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is also very sad that, in some of these issues, it is the bureaucracy which makes us not able to perform. I will give you an example. We even have cases where, for example, if a motor vehicle driver, owner or operator is charged in a court of law--- We always complain of corruption and it is very surprising that if you look at the court process that you have to go through before you are fined Kshs3,000, you are better off having parted with Kshs500 to a policeman and get away with it. That is an issue which can be addressed. We have always proposed that instant fines can be introduced or, at least, a system that is a bit smooth be put in place so that the Judiciary will be able to assist you, as the Ministry of Finance, to collect the necessary revenue to run our Government. It is very important for us to address those issues because, if we ignore them, we will always find ourselves falling short of funds and needing Supplementary Estimates every other time before the end of the financial year. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is very important for us to realize that some of these issues may look as if they are in the periphery, but it is common knowledge that for a very prudent and efficient Chief Executive Officer (CEO), you do not have to be the clerk or do the physical work. But, as long as you are seen to be touching on every other area, everything within the organization flows very conveniently. You may be a hands-off manager but, at the end of the day, because you are everywhere, you will definitely find that results are realized. It is very important for us to accept that we have to put those things in place if we want the Government to have enough funds to run the various activities of the system. With those many remarks, I beg to support."
}