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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, last week when we were contributing to the debate on the Supplementary Estimates, I said that this House is being taken for a ride by this Ministry. Actually, I want to oppose, as a matter of fact, the Supplementary Appropriations Bill, because the Minister is not serious. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when Treasury is making Supplementary Estimates, it must consult with the relevant Ministries. You do not just wake up and reduce money from Ministries without finding out whether indeed it will have an impact. What you have done is one of the reasons which makes me reject these Supplementary Estimates. If you look at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, with all due respect, the money that has been allocated for construction of emergency boreholes and water pans in arid and semi-arid areas amounting to Kshs531 million has been removed. This is a matter that is known to the Ministry. This is a matter that has been raised by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation itself. I raised it with the Assistant Minister here last week and told him this cannot go through. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, last week, a Minister stood here and told this House that there is an additional Kshs3 billion in these Estimates for emergency water supply and you questioned him to produce evidence to show us and you also supported our arguments. Let him show us where the additional Kshs3 billion funding for the Ministry of Water and Irrigation is in this book since he said he was going to produce it. Today, if you look at the Bill on the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Development Expenditure, Vote D20, the amount required by this Ministry for rural and special water programmes and for the National Water Pipeline and Conservation (NWPC) Board which is responsible for emergency boreholes and water pans has been reduced by Kshs531 million. As we speak, I have been advised from my own district and also by the NWPC Board that all the 952 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 4, 2006 construction of boreholes has been stopped. Even the construction of water pans which have been dug already has also been stopped. The owners have not been paid. They are not able to pay until the next financial year. This is a joke! Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, a Government that sits here and tells us that they care about arid and semi-arid areas and the emergency situation that we have just passed through; the same Government that sits here and tells Kenyans that they want to develop North Eastern Province and other regions, is speaking tongue-in-cheek when they stand here and say that they are allocating money. The Minister should bring amendments in this House to this Bill so that we can reduce that deduction in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation to nil. If he does not do that, all of us here from ASAL areas will bring an amendment Motion to make sure that the Ministry of Water and Irrigation's Kshs531 million is not reduced. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you look at other critical Ministries like the Ministry of Health, you will find that allocation to it for preventive medicine is being reduced in these Supplementary Estimates by Kshs1.1 billion at a time when measles is killing our children and Kenyans are unable to cope with most of the preventable diseases. So, what does this tell us? Where are our priorities? The same Treasury that is reducing the emergency water borehole by Kshs531 million is allocating Kshs100 million in these Supplementary Estimates for membership fees of Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM). Why is it so urgent to pay membership fees for KAM and it is not considered urgent to continue providing water to people who are dying because of lack of water? Where is the seriousness and commitment that this Government keeps telling Kenyans every time they speak? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in this budget you will find money for roads in some of the poorest districts being removed, like Wajir District. Last week, the road between Wajir and Mandera was cut off for five days because it was made impassable by the rains. In these Estimates, this Minister is removing the only allocation that has been made to the Ministry of Roads and Public Works for that district by Kshs14 million. Where is the commitment for development of this region? Kisumu District has been deducted Kshs40 million. Narok District has been deducted Kshs375 million. If you go through this book district by district, you will be surprised at how much money is being removed for development from water, health, roads and all other critical infrastructure. The same money that is being given to departments that are not essential. For example, Dr. Mutua, the Government Spokesman is getting Kshs421 million in this book. What does he do in this country to deserve that amount? Why are we unable to stick to commitments when we are allocating money? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, last time when we were discussing about the security in north- eastern Kenya, hon. Members in this House were very clear in their minds. Many of them even suggested that: \"We can even wait for a year. Can you take the money for this year's allocation to north eastern Kenya and develop that region?\" Hon. Members raised it here. Can we have a substantial amount for this year allocated for the development of that region so that we can have the roads and the Minister in charge of security can tackle insecurity and so that we can have water and people do not have to starve? When we have the little allocation of Kshs10 million, people in Treasury can sit down and remove that money without any consultations with anybody. So, I find it very difficult for us to accept this Supplementary Appropriation Bill. We are going for the Budget and we will see the commitment of this Government when they read the Budget in June as to how much money they are going to allocate for the development of infrastructure in that region. I said last time that every time there is a tragedy in northern Kenya, this Government declares national days of mourning and sheds crocodile tears but when it comes to giving resources for development, we do no find a penny. Resources are given out like prescribed medicine in doses which are so small May 4, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 953 that you wonder whether that part of the country is also in this Republic. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, one of the other problems with the Treasury is the delay in disbursements by the Exchequer of money that has been approved and voted for by this House. This is the reason why you find money is going back to Treasury every year. We have raised that issue time and again in this House that Treasury needs to do something in terms of its capacity and ability so that once resources have been voted they are spent. The reason why districts are unable to spend money is because of delays by Treasury in releasing funds to them. That matter needs to be addressed once and for all because each year including now in this book the Development Vote for this year which we voted on Kshs7.6 billion is being taken back and re-allocated to Recurrent Expenditure. Why? Because there is a delay in getting the money in the districts. So, I think this Government needs to look at the long-term priorities for development of this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have in these Estimates an allocation of Kshs6.3 billion for famine relief for the remaining part of this financial year and we are told another Kshs6.7 billion has already been spent on famine relief. In fact, 70 per cent of the population of North Eastern Province, as we speak today, is relying on famine relief. Why should it be so? Why must an entire region of this country be dependent on hand-outs from the Government? Is it because they are not able to work? Is it because they are lazy and cannot fend for themselves? It is because we are being denied resources when we want them for development. Out of this Kshs6.3 billion for buying maize and beans, if we ask for Kshs1 billion for construction of the roads or for water supply we cannot get it for that region but if we tell them we need another Kshs20 billion for relief food, it is going to be provided and the reason is very clear. This is because when you are buying maize and beans there is going to be corruption. You get kickbacks and every Minister here will go home with his wallet bursting because of the amount of corruption that is there. We cannot allow this kind of thing to continue. What we want is resources allocated for development and not for famine relief. We have said it many times. The people of North Eastern Province do not require famine relief to survive. We need money for development of the region. It is a shame when you give us Kshs6.2 billion to buy maize and beans grown by you and yet, you do not want to spend Kshs500 million to provide water, roads and other development facilities in the region. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, lastly, in today's newspapers, you have seen a report by the Controller and Auditor-General about the misappropriation of funds in 2003/2004 Financial Year. We will discuss that. However, what is clearly coming up is that the same misappropriation of funds, the same extravagance, the same wastage and losses that we suffered in previous regimes is being repeated in this regime! As we vote for this Bill, we want to appeal to the Minister for Finance to change that. We need a paradigm shift in the way we manage finances in this country. We cannot continue losing billions of shillings in the same way we did in the last Century. With those few remarks, until the Minister makes amendments, I oppose this Bill."
}