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"id": 222097,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Arungah",
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"legal_name": "Julius Odenyo Arungah",
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"content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. It gives me great pleasure to get this opportunity to second this Bill. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, to me, the passage or enactment of this Bill into law, will be one of the greatest milestones in the history of the 9th Parliament. This is my fifth year in this House and I have watched helplessly as hon. Members assemble in this House every June to spend seven days--- If you calculate the man hours that we spend discussing the budget speeches and, yet, at the end of it all, we cannot change a comma, you will consider that a total waste of time. The passage of this Bill will change all that. We should be able to use those seven days to do the work that we are supposed to do, that is, making laws. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it has been said that civil wars in most countries have been occasioned by the uneven or unfair distribution of national resources. This Bill, amongst other things, attempts to address that issue. If it is, indeed, passed and implemented, the country will be on course to avoid those kinds of pitfalls. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Mover of this Motion has done a great job, by going through the nine Parts of this Bill. He has covered them adequately and explained what each section provides. So, I will not attempt to repeat what he has said. The reason why I said that the passage of this Bill will be a milestone is because, over the years - not just in our country, but internationally - there has been rivalry between the Executive and parliaments, in terms of the budget-making process. Therefore, if the Executive does enact this Bill into law, it will represent a sense of maturity, and that will portend very well for the future of this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, trust is a very rare commodity in our country. As we all know, there have been fears between the Executive and Parliament. On one hand, Parliament has its fears in leaving this process exclusively to the Treasury. One reason for that scenario, which we have observed, is that the allocations have tended to favour the incumbent Government. Secondly, when these allocations are made, hon. Members of Parliament are never involved in the various projects and, therefore, they have difficulties in owning these projects when it comes to the time of implementation. Because hon. Members are not involved, what happens is that we do not understand what is going on. We see big volumes--- No wonder, when the budgets are being read, some hon. Members actually doze, because, really, they do not understand what is going on. On the other hand, the Treasury has certain fears which, actually, can be legitimate, in the sense that the hon. Members will tend to actually encourage or increase expenditure on the one hand, and because it is populist, they will not attempt to propose the raising of taxes, because that will be against the people. There is a danger that the hon. Members will play what is called the pork-barrel politics. We will have a situation where the hon. Members of Parliament will tend to hold the budget hostage for their local interest. These concerns are legitimate on the part of the Treasury. But I think, in addressing or formulating this Bill, care has been taken to ensure that there is a balance. Therefore, if it is passed, we will go a long way. So, even with those arguments on both sides, there are certain facts that we can see. History is replete with partisan allocation of natural resources. That is there for everyone to see. Secondly, in the allocations by the Treasury we have had situations where mischievous projects have been quietly sneaked into these budgets. All of us remember the Anglo Leasing scandal. Because of those volumes, we could not have the capacity to scrutinize the Budget. As a result, those projects were sneaked in, and we know what followed. 1330 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 15, 2007 Thirdly and more important, we need to involve Parliament, because the process of approving the budget is more or less a ritual. Like I said earlier on, there is very little that we can do to change even a comma. But the other more important reason why we need to involve Parliament is as follows: We know that for many years, our budget support came from outside the country. It was the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank which were actually giving us the budget support, because a large portion of it was being financed by them. The consequence was that the oversight responsibility fell on their shoulders. Because they were giving us money, they compelled the Treasury to submit certain documents to them, in order to satisfy them before they could give it money. But we all know now, as a country, that we are able to finance 95 per cent of our budget from internal sources. Therefore, that means that the onus or responsibility of exercising the oversight role must revert back to this House. That is why it is important that Parliament should be more involved in this process. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Budget process, in my view, is the Government's key device for converting its obligations, promises and policies into concrete and integrated plans. That is: What actions the Government has undertaken, what results are expected to be achieved, at what cost and who will pay how much. The budget process connects the Government's aspirations with its analysis of affordability. It is a process that is significant in the sense that it gives the Government the opportunity to make choices between the available options that will fast-track or hasten the advancement or accelerate economic growth. When preparing the budgets, the Government tries to capture all the complementaries, amongst its programmes in achieving its overall objectives. Budgets, ultimately, must choose amongst social and economic groups, regions, and between today and tomorrow. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, so, where do hon. Members of Parliament come in? As the representative of the people, Parliament is the appropriate place to ensure that a budget best matches the nation's needs with the available resources. This is specifically critical, considering the current challenge to prioritise between the various sectors. In the process of investing, for example, we will want to know how much the Government is investing in the various sectors. It will make sense, for example, if agriculture is contributing 50 per cent, to ensure, as Parliament, that the budgetary allocation matches the significance of that particular sector. By engaging the hon. Members in the budget process, we will provide a conduit, where they will be able to channel the needs of their people, because the officers working at the Treasury do not understand what the people on the ground actually want. By involving the Members of Parliament, who, hopefully, will have consulted the people that they represent, or for that matter, other sector players, they will be able to gather the information and bring it forth, so that their feelings or views can be taken into account. So, what then will be the mandate of this House? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is my view that as Parliament looks at the Budget process, there are three key areas that we will be particularly interested in: The first one is the fiscal responsibility in the promulgation or formulation of this process. Secondly, we will look in detail at resource allocation; and, thirdly, the issue of accountability is very important. For example, in the area of fiscal responsibility, we shall be looking into the issue of taxation. How equitable is this taxation? How sustainable is it? What are the deficits? Are they necessary? Are they responsible? Can we afford it? Are they transparent? We have to ensure that we live within our means as a country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when it comes to, for example, resource allocation, we will be looking at issues as a mix, like I said. That, you give a sector commensurate allocation, depending on what they contribute towards Government revenue. On the issue of accountability, we will be looking at things like financial accountability and May 15, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1331 compliance. For example, if some money has been allocated, to what extent has that Ministry implemented the project for which it was allocated money? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, like I said earlier, hon. Aringo, the Mover of this Motion, has taken us through the Bill and has covered most of the provisions, and I do not want to repeat them. Above all, as our President would say, I am happy that, as the Bill seeks to empower Parliament to be more assertive, care has been taken so as not to infringe on the existing constitutional provisions which give the Executive the right to initiate the Budget-making process. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am a Member of the Fiscal Analysis and Appropriation Committee. I have had the opportunity to look at this Bill in detail and I would urge hon. Members to support this Bill so that we can put it into law, so that the country can move forward. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to second."
}