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{
    "id": 246288,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/246288/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 101,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Billow",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 260,
        "legal_name": "Billow Adan Kerrow",
        "slug": "billow-kerrow"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, one kilogramme of sugar is now sold at Kshs65. It used to go for Kshs28 in 2002. A litre of paraffin is now Kshs50. A litre of petrol used to be sold at Kshs52 when this Government came into power in 2003. Today, the same litre of petrol is being sold at Kshs82. Where are we taking Kenyans? We cannot expect to liberate our people from poverty with this kind of economic policies. That is why I mentioned earlier that their is lack of wisdom in financial planning. There is an expression of greed for money by this Government in preparing this Budget. When you increase the Roads Maintenance Levy by Kshs3.20 you are actually going to hurt millions of Kenyans. Every activity in this country is dependent on fuel. There was no need to raise Kshs5 billion by increasing the Roads Maintenance Fuel Levy. It is going to have an impact on the entire economy. Manufacturers need fuel and so does the transport industry. Even photocopying this piece of paper requires fuel. It is not a wise thing to have done and the Minister needs to reverse that matter because it is really going to affect the growth of the economy and, by extension, the lives of many Kenyans. If the Minister wants to raise Kshs5 billion, there are many ways of doing it. He can go through the Printed Estimates and under the Recurrent Expenditure of the 34 Ministries save over Kshs10 billion by cutting down on excesses. You will find so much extravagance in those Votes. In fact, you can save more than Kshs10 billion if you wanted to. With regard to the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL), I like this Government for one thing. Every opportunity they get, they have to mention ASAL areas as a matter of priority, but when it comes to allocating money, the 22 ASAL districts are given the money in doses like prescribed medicine. That is what happened in this year's Budget. The ASAL areas represent 70 per cent of the country's land mass and 25 per cent of the country's entire population. The ASAL areas also boast of 50 per cent of the country's livestock, 70 per cent of which was wiped out last year. In spite of all that, this Government only allocated Kshs1.5 billion for water which is the single most important thing in that area. Is Kshs1.5 billion really enough to provide 22 districts with water? It is not enough money. 1482 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 21, 2006 Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to move on to the issue of the governance of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). The Minister's decision to amend the CBK Act to appoint an independent person as the chairman will not enhance corporate governance. The Constitution says: \"The Governor shall not be under the direction of anybody in discharging his functions.\" So, the appointment of an independent chairman by the President would make the Governor indirectly answerable to him. This is unconstitutional. This is a constitutional office holder. Is there any reason why the Government would want to do that? The aim of this change is to rein in the independence of the Governor and to protect the money launderers, tax evaders and other Artur- type of people. They want to use the Governor for that kind of purpose. Mr. Deputy Speaker, an example of what I am alleging is a document which I want to table. In March, 2006, the current Governor was suspended because he, together with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) and the CBK, were investigating the Charter House Bank. This bank was involved in tax evasion amounting to over Kshs18 billion. I support Dr. Kituyi when he said here yesterday that Nakumatt Supermarkets which has 20 times more revenue than Uchumi Chain of Supermarkets---"
}