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{
    "id": 221663,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/221663/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 273,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Odoyo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 340,
        "legal_name": "Peter Ochieng Odoyo",
        "slug": "peter-odoyo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. Many a times, this House has noted that at one time Kenya, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan were at par. The difference between Kenya and those countries is that whereas we were spending three quarters of our money on recurrent expenditure, they were spending two thirds of their money on development projects. We, in Kenya, started many parastatals with a view to making them investment vehicles, so that they could assist Kenya grow. Indeed, as time went by, some of them became dens of corruption and illegal capital accumulation, which was channelled to what we may call \"unproductive private sector ventures\", including purchase of non-wealth- creating land. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I have taken the trouble of looking at the PIC Reports over the years. They are, but a litany of theft, fraud, continued theft, additional theft, outright robbery and what we may call \"kleptocracy\" - the art of stealing billions of shillings from public coffers. One of the main issues that NARC promised, during the run-up to the 2002 general election, to deal with once it came to power was the stopping of theft of public resources from public coffers. As we stand here today, many of my colleagues on the Government side continue to shake their heads. The level of theft has risen from millions of shillings to billions of shillings. That magnitude of theft is clearly manifested in parastatals. The Government may claim that the country's economy is growing. The economy may be growing through additional revenue but, as revenue collection has increased, so has the level of theft. Whereas previous revenue collection stood at Kshs200 billion, today the Government collects almost Kshs400 billion. Whereas at that time, we may claim that between Kshs20 billion and Kshs30 billion was being stolen annually, today, between Kshs50 billion and Kshs80 billion is being stolen annually. The level of theft is increasing, and is not declining. So, why are they stealing this money?"
}