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"id": 221735,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/221735/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Bahari",
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"speaker": {
"id": 156,
"legal_name": "Abdul Bahari Ali Jillo",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I can assure you that I will speak very briefly and give time to my colleague, hon. Angwenyi, to contribute. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, first and foremost, I want to thank the PIC for doing a very splendid job. Year in, year out, we must have seen some voluminous reports of the PIC. I am sure it has actually carried out its mandate given by this House. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, many hon. Members here have positively talked about this Report. But I want to emphasize a few issues that have been, perhaps, touched on. One of them is about the public hearing. Even young countries or parliaments, like the parliaments of Namibia and Rwanda, have public hearings of their public accounts and public investments committees. The citizens of this country, like hon. Mungatana said, will see for themselves and easily follow, live, those debates and interviews. They will also go to the galleries and see for themselves what happens. But as we prepare ourselves to do that, because we cannot afford to keep some of these things in privacy, I can assure hon. Mungatana that the chief executives of state corporations, who have appeared before the PIC, know what it means to do so. They normally come the second time when they are well-prepared, because they know what kind of Members of Parliament they meet there, and what kind of cross-examination they go through. That is one of the reasons why, as a Member of the Committee, I want to congratulate the Committee for the role it has played. I can assure this House that the PIC is a very thorough Committee, and that is why it is able to bring out a number of issues. I want to assure hon. Mungatana that the Public Investments Committee (PIC) plays a very, very critical role in that, it actually helps the Executive to make sure that the chief executive officers run those organizations properly in the first instance. But, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to call upon the parent Ministries so that we have less and less of these problems, to ensure that they play their rightful roles. We need to tackle some of these problems at the source; at the board level and chief executive level when we are appointing them; at the management level, then at the parent Ministry level to make sure that the parent 1426 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 16, 2007 Ministry actually properly supervises the parastatals under that Ministry. In the past, the parent Ministries look like they are wishy-washy when it comes to handling the affairs of State Corporations under them. They will only go there when they need Harambees or, perhaps when they need employment and those kind of things, and they are not concerned about their prudent management. I am pleased that the Government has, at least, put in place certain measures to ensure that State Corporations perform, and those performance measures must be strictly followed as a control instrument. It should be the parent Ministry, not necessarily the State Corporation's body that whatever--- But the parent Ministry must ensure that whatever performance measurement standards they have put in place or instruments they have put in place are adhered to and that they are objectively designed in the first instance. We do not want to see a situation where, perhaps, those objectives are laid out in a manner that is very easy for anybody to achieve. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue is about, perhaps, the role of the Attorney-General. If you look through that Report, you will realize that the Attorney-General is really required to come and ensure that he plays his rightful role. That office in the past has not handled those issues properly; litigation matters, and it is important that the Attorney-General does that because there are a lot of issues that require him to come in and make sure that those who are responsible for misappropriation of funds are brought to book. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of procurement is one of the key issues. I think---"
}