HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 196312,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/196312/?format=api",
"text_counter": 68,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Bahari",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 156,
"legal_name": "Abdul Bahari Ali Jillo",
"slug": "bahari-ali-jillo"
},
"content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is high time we adopted that kind of spirit in the public service, otherwise we are playing around with the minds of Kenyans on the issue of performance contracting; all those jargons and the medals that we brought in here mean nothing. You know that Kenyans are heavily taxed. That is why they are living below the poverty line; they cannot afford essential commodities due to the taxes that have been imposed on them. If those taxes are not used properly, then we have no moral authority to continue approving taxation measures in this country. It is, therefore, incumbent upon this House to ensure that we remain accountable. Very simple issues, like reconciliation exercises in the Ministries, fail basic audit tests. As a result of that, there are a lot of grey areas in accountability for public funds. When you see no proper reconciliation, then those are areas where fraud and corruption are taking place. That is how corruption is hidden. These kinds of things should not be allowed to continue. In the private sector, bank reconciliations are done on a weekly basis. There is a requirement in the Government that, they have to be done on a monthly basis, but they are not done; even the auditors are unable to get them and we allow those responsible to continue doing what they have been doing. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, there is the example of Kisii-Chemosit Road that was given by Mr. Ethuro. That road has been under construction for 18 years. Initially, the cost of that road was estimated at Kshs146,492,302. Eighteen years down the line, it still stands incomplete and its cost is at Kshs1.8 billion. What are we doing? That is an outright fraud! You can see that the same is repeated in many other instances. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another example is the Narok-Mau Narok Road. In this instance, the appointed consultant evaluated the pending bill for that road at Kshs261,623,163. The consultant recommended Kshs313,131,949. Reports indicate that the contractor was paid a total sum of Kshs984,863,173. against the advice of the consultant. The contractor appeared, therefore, to have been paid a total sum of Kshs1,297,995,122, for which the Government did not receive any value. This is the kind of gross misappropriation of public funds that we are talking about. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, in the same Report, we have a situation where a pencil sharpener was sold to the Government for Kshs7 per piece when the market price was only Kshs3. Yet, those responsible got away with it. There are instances where there is outright fraud, and we have those court cases where the Attorney-General failed to appear in court and judgements were entered ex-parte, because the Government was not represented. In such instances, normally, there is never fairness for the Government and, by extension, the Kenyan public. Throughout the Report, you will read scaring situations of misapplication of public funds. In certain instances, accounting documents were not there. They conveniently disappeared and nothing was done. It is high time the Government went the e-government way, so that it is possible to track April 22, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 567 some of those expenditures and transactions. There were also reports of instances where State corporations were unable to meet their obligations. They are there even today. I know, on many occasions, where the same State corporations have been blamed for that. Recommendations have been made to bail out and re- organise those organisations. But I want to take this opportunity, perhaps, to bring to the attention of the Ministry--- That is because all State corporations are under the supervision of certain Ministries. They are called parent Ministries. Those parent Ministries have tended not to supervise the parastatals. They have ignored them in most instances. They will only remember those State corporations when they have one or two needs to be sorted out; either employment or contracts. They have left them un-supervised. The Treasury is not also spared in that. I know that from very many previous reports. The Treasury issues circulars on instruments of control and forgets them immediately they are signed! So, the Treasury must also ensure that the instruments they introduce for monitoring the performance of State corporations are followed to the letter. Therefore, the same State corporations, after the Ministries fail to supervise them and load them with things that are not in their business interest, are later blamed and the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) unnecessarily victimised. It is, therefore, important for the Ministries to appropriately supervise State corporations because they are public investments. By doing that, they will not over-burden the Treasury. They will absorb some of the expenses which the Treasury is unable to. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, project implementation, time and again, has been a big problem in this country. We write very beautiful and viable proposals but, when it comes to the implementation of those projects like roads, we fail miserably. That is because we do not properly account for the funds. We do not employ the necessary manpower to implement those projects as required. In the end, it becomes very costly to the taxpayers. We have seen that in various reports. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the issue of procurement and disposal has been around with us, and it is still with us. The latest is with regard to the Grand Regency Hotel. I think the issue about the Grand Regency Hotel has been in the public domain. I do not need to revisit it. In this Report, a jet was purchased by the State. There was a financier. But that financier disappeared under the guise of being declared bankrupt. That means that, perhaps, that financier was only put there for the purpose of siphoning public funds. It is quite clear! How else do you explain that? When you deal with procurement matters, normally, you conduct a due diligence investigation. Who did the due diligence investigation on the company that was financing the jet? It is just like the Anglo Leasing scam where those companies ended up being nowhere! Normally, in procurement, you have to make sure that you deal with existing institutions that can meet your requirements. But because the initial objective from the word \"go\" is to siphon public funds, we deliberately deal with briefcase suppliers, financiers; name it. I think that is not acceptable because it is going on day and night. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I think this Report is very clear. The Controller and Auditor-General has done her job. I think what is left is for this House to decide on what direction we shall take. Do we need to continue along the same line that we have continued before, or we have to take radical measures. It does not pay, whether you are in the Front Bench or Back Bench, to bury your head in the sand, when you are seeing that there is a problem. That is because, ultimately, that problem will come for you. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I know that many Members are very eager to contribute to this Motion. But I want to repeat again that the job is now ours to ensure that this Report is less voluminous; and that, it stops becoming a ritual. With those few remarks, I beg to second."
}