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"id": 233578,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/233578/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Katuku",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Water and Irrigation",
"speaker": {
"id": 281,
"legal_name": "John Mutua Katuku",
"slug": "mutua-katuku"
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"content": " Thank you Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I second this Appropriation Bill, I would want to urge the Minister to be optimistic, because I can see that he may even raise more revenue than he expects, although he is not sure of that because of what happened a few days ago. This is in terms of some sections of the Finance Bill which were struck out. I want to appeal to him and the officers working under him to be vigilant on the issue of revenue collection. If we move in the current direction, we will be able to cover possible shortfalls occasioned by some amendments to the Finance Bill on the Floor of this House. With the efficiency of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) that we are seeing and the zeal of our taxpayers in paying taxes, I think the Minister will raise enough money to fund the programmes for this financial year. It is important for all the hon. Members to work together to ensure that we give Kenyans the service that they deserve. It is not the responsibility of only the Government, but for all of us in this House, to ensure that money that has been allocated for a particular project is properly utilised. Hon. Members have a duty to ensure that the taxes that are collected are properly appropriated. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to appeal to the hon. Members to be the first people to point out if they see any of our officers misusing revenue that has been allocated for the various projects. In my Ministry, I would like to hear about any of my officers who is misusing revenue and is not implementing Government programmes as required. It is the desire of the Government to see that money that is allocated for projects is properly utilised. As we move round, we expect to see efficiency and fast-tracking the various projects. Once money leaves the Treasury to any Ministry and from the Ministry to any department and from that department to a district, we need to monitor its utilisation. I would like to urge the Minister for Finance to improve the monitoring aspect. Although November 22, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3873 Ministers are supposed to do that, the Efficiency Monitoring Unit at the Treasury needs to be strengthened in order to ensure that money that has been allocated to implement a certain project, for example, to buy vehicles for hospitals, goes to the same project. We need to have these services delivered. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as a Government, we would like to devote more time to serving Kenyans. I would like to call upon the Opposition hon. Members to stop criticising what is not worth being criticised. If something is being done well, like the way the Government is doing very well in developing the infrastructure of this country, the Opposition hon. Members should say that we are doing very well. Where we are doing badly, they should say that we are doing badly. There are some Opposition hon. Members who criticise work done on roads even when they have been well done. They just want to be heard criticising. When we are doing well, they do not say that we are doing well. For example, in my Ministry, I would like to hear where we are doing very well and where we are doing badly. I would like to appeal to the Opposition hon. Members to be positive. Since Independence, there is no Government which has performed like the NARC Government. We should agree on that all of us, both in the Opposition and in the Government, and come 2007, we should be given another chance to serve Kenyans. That is what we should be telling people out there because it is a fact. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we should also appreciate what is currently happening in our country. We have rains, which are a blessing. My Ministry has suffered a lot of damage in that most of the pans and dams which we had constructed during the dry spell have been washed away. I would like to appeal to the Minister for Finance to consider my Ministry when he will be distributing the emergency kitty. My Ministry has lost many dams. I am sure the Minister will give me more money to construct more dams and pans. However, we need to educate our people on the culture of water harvesting, which is lacking in them. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation is trying to improve on the culture of water harvesting. In the last financial year, we did about 300 pans and dams for water harvesting. I would like to appeal to the public to adopt the culture of water harvesting. It will rain today and tomorrow, you will find somebody trekking for many kilometres with his livestock to look for water. It is high time people dug small pans and dams in their farms. We need to have more tanks to harvest water. It does not make sense that it rains the whole night today and somebody will be looking for water tomorrow. People have no strategy at all, for water harvesting. The Ministry is trying to provide tanks in some areas. We are also working with the Ministry of Education and donors to provide tanks to schools, so that they can harvest water. With regard to our homes, people should adopt the culture of harvesting rain water. That is the only way we can build our capacity and make sure that we have enough water in this country to avoid the scarcity of water. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to point out the area of the implementation of power lines. The Minister for Energy is back in office and very eager to ensure that every part of this country is light. We would want him to be thorough. Money has been allocated to do certain projects, but implementation is taking a lot of time. I would also like to appeal to the Minister to ensure that projects which have been allocated money are implemented with speed, so that we can light this country. With those remarks, I beg to second."
}