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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are looking at the accounts for 1998/1999. It is true that those are many years ago. However, as human beings we need to learn from the past. It is said that the past should not be a tombstone, rather it should be a touchstone, that is, something you can go back to and make reference in order to learn and change. Although we are looking at the Report for 1998/1999, what we realise is that we are dealing with the same catalogue of errors that we handled many years ago. If you look at the Reports for 4062 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 29, 2006 1995/1996 and 1996/1997, you will realise that we are talking about the same things. Today, as we debate this matter, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is looking at the Report for 2004/2005. The same history of misappropriation, misuse, plunder and destruction of public resources continues. Therefore, it is really disheartening that this House which has the responsibility not only to scrutinise public accounts, but also play an oversight role over the expenditure by the Executive, continues to give the same recommendations year in, year out. That is really unfortunate. We give the same views in our successive reports and yet no Government has ever taken action. For 40 years now, we have had different Governments in power, but none has ever taken action on the reports. Unfortunately, the same trend continues today. Why is that the case? The reason for this is that there is no single major change in the way we do our accounts. There is no single major change that we have seen in terms of accountability for public resources. Expenditure requires prudence. When we sit here and approve the Budget, we do it on the basis of prudence, that we need a certain expenditure because it is needed for the purpose of rendering a particular service. However, when we start getting reports from the Controller and Auditor-General that the money has not been spent in the manner in which this House voted, then we get in a situation where we need to take action. That action, unfortunately, has to be executed by the Executive. The people who run the Ministries and the Accounting Officers work for the Executive. That is exactly why our recommendations are directed to the Executive. Unfortunately, that is where our weakness lies. Those who are in Government today may say that this is the responsibility of the Government that was in power in 1998. However, these recommendations include specific recommendations that need to be taken by this Government before a particular date. For example, by 30th June, 2006 the Government should have done this and that. All these recommendations are contained in this Report so that if this Government really wanted to take action on those people who plundered and misappropriated the resources, they have the recommendations and all the facts in this Report. All the evidence that they need is in this Report and there is no reason why action cannot be taken by the current regime. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the lack of action by this Government or the previous Government is very clear. I am mentioning this Government because since we are dealing with this particular Report, we want action from it. Today, as we speak, we are still talking about the same catalogue of mistakes being committed. Good and recent examples have been given by hon. Omingo. He mentioned the Anglo Leasing scandal and others. When this Government was in the Opposition before 2002, they issued reports together with the civil society saying that the former Government of KANU was losing approximately Kshs100 billion every year as a result of corruption. I was not a Member of Parliament then, but I believed it. Today, in the annual report of Transparency International (TI) which was issued last month, the current Government, which was accusing the previous one, is losing Kshs85 billion through procurement corruption alone. Where are we going to end up, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir? The reason why these things are happening is that, unfortunately, the same Government Ministers who served the former regime are the same ones serving the current one. The public servants who served the former regime are the same ones who are serving in the current one. Indeed, it is found very profitable by regimes to pull out those retired public servants because they are said to profess an expertise in terms of identifying resources where you can get money. That is why in this regime, we have over half-a-dozen senior Accounting Officers whose names were laid on the Table of this House and who ought to have retired long ago, but have been contracted. Those, unfortunately, are the kind of problems that we have to live with. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, where is the commitment by any of the Governments that have been in power? They have been pledging, for the last 40 years, that they are going to November 29, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 4063 ensure that there is accountability in public expenditure. That responsibility falls on this House. We need, as a House, to do a few things in order to take some action on some of these issues. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, because of the fact that the officers in the past regime are the same ones serving in the current regime and probably the next one, we shall continue having the same problems. This disease of misappropriation and unaccountability, therefore, keeps on spreading. That influence, unfortunately, is what makes this Government--- I want to advise this Government not to read from the same script that the former President, hon. Moi, read from. That will not help this Government or any other succeeding one. Even if one believes in being a professor of politics, the political dishonesty and breach of trust that we see today are defined in the Kenya Anti-Corruption Act. This Act expanded the meaning of corruption to include political dishonesty and breach of trust by officers who have been given responsibilities. What do we see today? I will quote an example from this Report. An airport was constructed in Eldoret at a cost of £194 million. That is equivalent to Kshs3.8 billion. According to the Controller and Auditor-General in this Report, that expenditure has not yet been regularised. It was in 1996/1997 that the Controller and Auditor-General gave recommendations of the action that should be taken in respect of that expenditure. The recommendation includes the following: Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission must investigate this matter further and the Attorney-General should take action on all those people who were involved in that exercise."
}