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"speaker_name": "Mr. Kipchumba",
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"legal_name": "Joseph Kipchumba Lagat",
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will take your advice. But I was emphasising the role of Committees in the Budget process; not more of the audit process. Budget is more about the future and not the past. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Minister has clearly said that the economy is expected to grow by 6 per cent. That is very encouraging. In fact, we would like it to go to 10 per cent as envisaged in the Vision 2030; a document which is foreign to us because we have never seen it. I would want that resources are distributed equitably in this country. Development is not about growth alone. It is about the sharing of resources throughout the country. In fact, Kenya is rated as one of the countries with the highest inequality in the world in terms of income distribution. Therefore, it is not about growth that we want. We want distribution of resources. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this House has passed the Privatisation Bill and the Procurement and Disposal Bill. I would like the Minister to tell us what has happened to the Privatisation Bill. Every time a parastatal is being sold in this country, it is done in a very haphazard manner, not following the procedures that we passed in this House. In his reply, the Minister should explain to the House what happened to the Bill. Has it been assented to by the President; and if so, why is it not operational? There is no point for this House passing Bills and they are not made operational. The Procurement and Disposal Bill is equally not yet operational as passed by this House. In his reply, the Minister should explain to us candidly why KenGen was sold without following correct procedures. We are now being told that there are other companies that will be sold, but we have not been told whether they will follow the procedures as passed by the House. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources is very critical. The other day, the whole world gathered in this city to discuss how they are going to save the November 22, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3879 environment. But if you look at the money that has been voted for that critical Ministry, it is very little. I hope that during the Supplementary Estimates, the Minister in his own wisdom will consider increasing money to that Ministry. There is no point of us hosting the world in this city to talk about saving the environment and yet our environment is deteriorating. The Minister for Water and Irrigation is here and he knows very well that water levels are going down. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would want to end by saying that this Government must stop the culture of creating more Ministries and increasing Ministers and their Assistants. This is causing a lot of strain on our Budget. There is no point of having all these Ministers and Assistant Ministers yet when it comes to answering Questions, they are not there. At times, we do not understand why departments have been turned into Ministries. A Member had brought in a Motion seeking to limit the number of Ministries that the Government can have at any given time. I know there is a provision in the Constitution, but that Act must be limited by this House. Otherwise, very soon, we will have everybody on the Government side either as a Minister or Assistant Minister, which is going to be very expensive for this country. All these Ministers and Assistant Ministers have vehicles. The Minister, during his Budget Speech, promised to withdraw some of the vehicles and that they are going to auction them so that the money can be used to develop this country. In as much as we have been told the vehicles have been withdrawn, they have not been sold. Why withdraw and keep them in garages? In fact, instead of doing that, you better put them to use because they are of no value to us. Therefore, I want to urge the Minister that before the end of this financial year, he should give Kenyans a Christmas present by selling those vehicles and give the money to the people of Coast Province who are affected by floods. I would want the Members from Coast Province to support that initiative so that the money can be given to their people to improve their lives. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}