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{
    "id": 223697,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/223697/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 185,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Keter",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 169,
        "legal_name": "Charles Cheruiyot Keter",
        "slug": "charles-keter"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I want to, straightaway, say that I support this Report. It is a detailed Report that was presented by the Departmental Committee on Defence and Foreign Affairs. Some members of that Committee have served in the military. The Chair was a Minister in the Office of the President for a long time. That gives me all the authority to say that whatever is contained in this Report is detailed. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there was another detailed Report that was brought to this House by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the status of all the 18 other related projects. One of PAC's recommendations directed the Government to re-enter into negotiations with those companies to ascertain their genuineness before paying for goods which have been supplied. It is very surprising that, even as we discuss this Report, the Minister for Finance has constituted another committee and signed an agreement with PriceWaterHouseCoopers to look into what this committee came up with. For how long are we going to have committees coming up with other reports? That will take us ages! Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of promissory notes, which the Minister said that they are as good as banker's cheques, the Attorney-General gave a legal opinion on those agreements. But we are now discussing this Report so that the House can adopt it. We adopted the Report of the PAC, but nothing has been done to even one of the recommendations that were made. So, as much as I support this Report, I have doubts. The Mover of this Motion is wondering why the Government has kept quiet. Why can the Government not come out and say: \"For this project, we will or will not pay.\" For how long are we going to shy away? The promissory notes were signed up to the year, 2013. The penalties which are accruing are hefty. We are talking about Kshs1.83 billion. If the Government was serious, it should have re-entered and re-negotiated those May 2, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1081 agreements to stop that. We want the to Government come out and say whether it has terminated or cancelled all those projects. It should issue a statement to tell Kenyans which of those 18 related projects have been cancelled, and whether any of those companies has taken us to court. In this Report, there is evidence to show that the Government has not sent any representation to the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) in the Hague. So, why the silence? Therefore, I urge the Government to move faster, so that the issue of the 18-related projects can be sorted out as soon as possible. This is just one project. The other projects fall under different Departmental Committees of this House. The Public Accounts Committee travelled. The Departmental Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations travelled to Spain. If other Departmental Committees also travel, we will end up spending a lot of money simply because the Government is quiet on these issues. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}