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"id": 246325,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Weya",
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"legal_name": "Sammy Arthur Weya",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to say one or two things with regard to the Budget Speech. The Government has been saying that it has increased its revenue collection. One of the reasons why the revenue collection has increased is because this country has no money laundering laws. For example, in the building industry and the stock exchange, people are coming to invest in this country with illegal or black money. Some former corrupt Government officials are now bringing in money which they looted from this country back into the economy, which is really boosting our economy. As a Kenyan, if you go to invest outside, for example, in South Africa or England, you will be scrutinised to find out where you got your money from, how you attained the money and whether you are a clean person. In this country, anybody can walk in and transfer huge sums of June 21, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1497 money into banks. When the NARC Government took over power, there was a bank where Kshs2.5 billion was transferred at once, wired into an account and all of a sudden, the matter became quiet. That shows that the Government is allowing illegal money into this country. I am glad that the Minister has now targeted the housing industry and he is also looking into the stock exchange to find out how he can collect revenue from the institutions, which are currently not paying taxes because people are hiding behind proxies and lawyers while they are investing illegal money in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was surprised when I looked at this year's Budget Speech. In the last two years, two roads in my constituency have been earmarked to be financed by the Government, namely, Road C28 and Road C29. For the last three years, the Minister has been mentioning Rang'ala-Siaya, Siaya-Bondo and Siaya-Usonga roads. All of a sudden, the figures that were put in the previous Budgets have disappeared from this year's Budget. Is this because the people from that region did not support the Government during the referendum or they do not support the Government? All Kenyans pay taxes. When a Government has promised its people that it is going to construct a certain road and all of a sudden the figures disappear from the Budget, there must be concern from the legislators. What is the Government doing? We know that the Government has given an average of Kshs11 million to each constituency. This money will make roads sketchily in the constituencies. Instead of finding ways and means of getting money to tarmack a 40-kilometre road in each constituency and repaying the money over a period of ten years, we will spend Kshs11 million and make sketchy roads, which after a while, will be worn out. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Kshs11 million should be paid towards a loan that can be used to tarmack a road properly within a constituency, so that we have something to show for it after ten years as opposed to a road that will be graded every year and there is nothing to show for it after ten years. For example, if you spend Kshs110 million to construct a road and repay the money within a period of ten years, you will have something to show after ten years. We should then allow the constituencies to charge tolls on those roads, so that they can collect revenue. We can even privatise some of the roads in this country, so that the Government does not spend money year in, year out, to construct roads. We should give these roads to investors who can look after them and collect their revenues back. These are some of the things we should be looking at instead of the Government thinking that it is in the business of doing roads. Some of these roads should be privatised and they can be there for posterity. We should even have contracts where over the years, say over 25 years, the roads can now revert back to the Government and we can use them freely after the investor gets his money back. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is a problem of co-ordination between the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF) and line Government ministries. It is a problem that even the Minister brought up. It is an issue of concern because even us, hon. Members of Parliament, when we are in our constituencies we attend our District Development Committees (DDCs) meetings and departmental heads are not able to tell us which projects have been brought up in the constituency in that financial year, their progress and how much money has been spent on the projects within the constituency. I attend DDC meetings and the only reports I get are from the Ministry of Roads and Public Works because they are up-to- date and they tell us which roads they are doing within our constituencies, how much money they are putting on those roads and they even advertise in the newspapers across the country so that we know that money is being utilised and where it is utilised within the country. Why can these other line ministries also not give us reports as Members of Parliament on how they are using money in our constituencies, which projects they have initiated in the constituencies and their progress? 1498 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 21, 2006 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, sometimes we attend meetings with donors and they tell us that they are in our constituencies undertaking certain projects under the Office of the Vice- President and Ministry of Home Affairs, which are empowering families to be able to look after orphans. I come from an area where HIV/AIDS orphans are of huge concern and if we cannot address this issue, then I foresee a serious problem. The other day I was in a DDC meeting and they were returning about Kshs5 million to the Ministry of Health, from the Global Fund, saying that they did not have the capacity to use this money. As Members of Parliament, we feel hurt when money is being returned from our districts back to the Government and being told that we were not able to utilise these funds and yet you find orphans in the constituency. You find that there are homes which are being run by 12 year old children and yet the Government is telling us that they are returning this money from the districts back to the Treasury. It is very embarrassing for that to happen and as leaders, we should be concerned. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on this money for the youth that is being given out in the Budget this year, I think it would be important that we, Members of Parliament, should be involved on how this money is given out at the constituency level. We are hon. Members of Parliament and we know what is happening in our constituencies. If this money is not given right down to the constituency so that it goes down to the right people, you will find that it will be just spent in town and cities and the youth in the rural areas will not benefit. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, last year the Government gave Kshs250 million for the cotton industry. Out of this money, Kshs50 million was given to the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI); Kshs60 million to some five civil servants in a secretariat; Kshs1.5 million to each district; and, another Kshs50 million for inputs. We wonder where these inputs are because I come from a cotton growing area and when I tried to find out how this money assisted my farmers, I saw nothing. I was surprised the other day to see that in Meru they were producing 6,000 tonnes of cotton whereas in my constituency, I do not know how many tonnes of cotton is being produced. That shows that this money went into one area to assist farmers, whereas in other areas where cotton is grown, nothing was given to the farmers. This year, the Government has given another Kshs250 million but it has not called stakeholders to find out where and how this money should be utilised. The Government has employed 400 graduates as extension workers and you find that some of them do not have expertise in some of these areas. They have been put in Government offices with no motor vehicle or motor bikes and no money to move. You find that they just sit there and rot in the office since they are not able to go and assist the farmers. Why should we not give this money to institutions which have the capacity like, for example, ginneries? The ginneries we have right now are outdated. Technology has changed. We need electric ginneries whereby you put in the cotton right now and by evening when you go to sleep, you are going out with a sheet or a blanket. Technology has changed such that where you process your cotton is where you spin it and you get the end product. That way, value is added. So, if we can have this kind of system, we will not have Kenyans wearing second-hand clothes. Do you think Kenya is a society where we should be wearing second-hand clothes? Why should we be a second-hand society? Why should we not be wearing new clothes? Why should we be buying clothes produced in China, sold in America and then sent back to some of us in Africa? Are we serious with what we are doing? We, as Kenyans, should not be a second-hand society!"
}