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"id": 253508,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Billow",
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"legal_name": "Billow Adan Kerrow",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of political culpability and the role of the Ministers lends credence to what has been said by Mr. Githongo in the evidence that he provided to us, that several Ministers knew about the irregularities of these contracts and attempted to either cover them up or block investigations. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to deal with the role of the Treasury or the Ministry of Finance in these Anglo Leasing contracts. The PS admitted in evidence submitted before this Committee that his Ministry has more or less abdicated its responsibilities with regard to securing of external loans and credit. This Ministry is, however, charged with the overall responsibility of financial management in the country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we find that there is financial mismanagement in various Ministries in this country, there is clear indication that the Ministry has indeed abdicated its responsibilities with regard to external loans and finance. In particular, we found out that the Ministry was unable to carry out due diligence on lease finance contracts. The Attorney-General's office was only concerned with legal matters. They clearly said they have no capacity to carry out due diligence on financial contracts, yet the Ministry of Finance did not at any one time attempt to do any due diligence on the lease finance contracts. For instance nothing was looked at with regard to the terms of the contracts, the period of repayment or terms of repayment. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Ministry was also notorious for approving single sourcing method of procurement when it came to anything to do with security contracts. I mentioned earlier that there were so many projects which were hidden under security. A good example is the contract related to the post offices by Universal Satspace and the one to do with the Meteorological Department. There are many contracts which had nothing to do with security, including purchase of vehicles, yet the Ministry of Finance routinely approved single sourcing if the request came for this kind of contract without being justified in law. The other aspect of the Ministry of Finance failure, is the off-budget financing. In the last three years we have been given pledges that this Government would not allow off-budget financing. That is, the financing of any project outside approval by this House. Under Section 99, this House is the only one mandated to approve budgets yet we have seen circumstances where none of the 18 projects were presented to this House for approval. It was all done outside this House. There is also failure to report to Parliament in accordance with the External Loans and Credit Act. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the CBK which is responsible under the CBK Act for administering payments relating to loan agreements was not consulted as required by law. The law is very clear that the CBK shall be consulted by the Government in negotiating any loan agreement, yet in all these agreements, the CBK was not consulted. It is also interesting to note that the Attorney-General's office advised at one time that the Anglo Leasing type of contracts which are called lease finance or suppliers credits do not actually qualify to be under the External Loans and Credit Act. That advice was given in writing on 15th June, 2001, and this was from the Attorney- General's office. They said that this matter does not fall within the External Loans and Credit Act. Therefore, in their opinion, the transaction fell under the Government contract Act. If Anglo Leasing contracts today were viewed under the Government Contract Act, all this would not have happened because the manner of dealing with those contracts is entirely different from the way we deal with loans. I think it is very important that this Ministry takes its responsibilities more seriously and ensures that the advice given to them is actually taken on board in future contracts. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if an Accounting Officer misuses his powers, the Ministry of Finance has the power to withdraw his appointment as an Accounting Officer. They did not utilise 484 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 18, 2006 that responsibility. Therefore, we found that Ministry singularly responsible for most of the things that have happened. We tried to find out from those who gave evidence before us what sort of person Mr. Githongo was before he fled the country. We tried to find out the credibility of Mr. Githongo. We were told by none other than Amb. Muthaura who is the Head of the Civil Service that he could vouch for the integrity of Mr. Githongo. We then asked why it is that after he left service, some hon. Members are now saying that this man is a liar, irresponsible and a spy? It is very clear that without the decision by this gentleman to stand up and tell us the truth about this matter, we would be groping in the dark. This country would be losing billions of shillings today. This country owes him an apology for the way he has been vilified by some of our hon. Members of this Government, for speaking out. Public servants need to emulate him. This Government should approve the Witness Protection Bill so that we can encourage public servants to come forward and give us information which is very important. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we speak here, we do not know how many Anglo Leasing contracts are going on out there. If anyone stands up and speaks, he will be dealt with. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Parliament, as an institution, needs to assert itself. We cannot allow situations whereby, year in, year out, Government departments carry out projects worth billions of shillings without the approval of this House. Parliament must assert itself by amending the Financial Management Act. Those who flout financial regulations must be dealt with. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we need to uproot that system of organised crime whereby a few people execute gigantic fraud against this nation with impunity. The Deputy Leader of Government Business was very clear. She agreed that there was need to clean up the system. But we want the Government to walk the talk. The Government has assured Kenyans many times - since June, 2004 when we brought the first Report here - that investigations were going on. But today, two years down the road, we are still being told that investigations are going on. We want this Government, this time round, to give an assurance to Kenyans that it will implement the recommendation that we will adopt. The main message in our recommendations is for individuals who have been mentioned in our Report to be investigated. The Deputy Leader of Government Business needs to demonstrate her call for dialogue by taking the lead. We are calling for dialogue even on national issues like the Constitution. We should not dialogue on corruption only. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}