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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I also want to take this opportunity to support this Bill. There are not many good things that have come out of this Government, but I think this Bill is one of the positive developments, particularly in the public service. I think civil servants have had major problems with regard to the mischief that the Bill proposes to address. One of our major problems is that we still have laws that deal with secrecy of information. On matters which we think are very important, the law still considers them as secret, and where the law does not, we have seen instructions being issued by the Head of Public Service that, public servants who disclose information or give out documents will face the consequences, yet the law is very clear that when a crime is being committed, we all have an obligation to report it. That is why I support, particularly, Clause 3(1)(b), which says: \"A person who has given or agreed to give evidence, otherwise than as mentioned in paragraph (a), in relation to the commission or possible commission of an offence against a law of Kenya.\" In other words, you qualify to be a witness if you agree to give evidence of the commission of an offence. That is very important because a number of civil servants have been punished for July 6, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1931 doing precisely that. They find some illegal things going on in the Ministries where they work, and the following day, they are shown the door or action is taken against them. So, we have to weigh the provisions for the secrecy and confidentiality for the sake of public good and morality. We allow, in circumstances where national security is concerned, that certain information should not be shared. However, national security cannot be used to provide a cover-up for many things that go on in the public service. We have seen the example of the Goldenberg scam. There was a whistle blown, even in this House, but nobody took it seriously. The country suffered colossal loss of money. The Anglo Leasing scandal was also reported in this House, but was rubbished the same way and nothing happened until the matter was out in the public domain. The latest issue we have is the one a commission of inquiry is sitting to discuss. We have had many issues happening, even in this House. As recently as last week, I gave information about a serious scam in tax evasion and money laundering that is going on in Charterhouse Bank. I provided documents here that were not done by me, but by the Republic of Kenya, or none other than the former Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya and the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission Director, showing the massive illegalities that are going on. Instead of the Government taking action, the Minister stood here and rubbished it. He said it was a mere allegation and that the CBK boss should have taken action himself. So, as we sit here, massive tax evasion is going on. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to table these documents, particularly the ones that I had mentioned were issued by the Governor of Central Bank of Kenya (CBK)."
}