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"id": 254329,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kenyatta",
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"speaker": {
"id": 168,
"legal_name": "Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta",
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is a system which, if not brought to check, will continue to rob this nation of the much needed resources that could be used to better the lives of millions and millions of Kenyans. Mr. Speaker, Sir, to get to the root of anything, one must start at the beginning. Records and testimonies made available to the Committee trace the origins of the Anglo Leasing related projects back to the year 2001. When pressed for cash, following the suspension of donor support and growing insecurity, the Cabinet at that time held a meeting on 27th, July, 2001 and approved the following:- Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Cabinet approved the use of lease-financing as the appropriate mode of funding high priority projects in the area of housing, transport and forensic laboratories. Secondly, it approved the use of supplier credits for essential security equipment and supplies. Mr. Speaker, Sir, under that general approval, began a scam; a scam involving a few businessmen, politicians and civil servants. That scam involved over 18 different contracts worth well over Kshs55 billion, signed between 1997 and 2003. As indicated in the annex of our Report, out of those projects, two were signed before that Cabinet approval. A further ten projects were signed prior to December, 2002, and eight more were signed after July, 2003. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Anglo-Leasing related projects represent three of the most prominent 380 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 5, 2006 characteristics of corruption in our country. They represent impunity, negligence and recklessness in the management of public resources. They also represent the regrettable feature of lack of responsibility and unaccountable conscience on the part of those charged with the management of national resources that are put under them. Mr. Speaker, Sir, for all those past years, the country has been unable to confront corruption fully, from its foundations. Those who are corrupt have hidden behind their political parties and tribes to evade action. Again, in the past, it is very clear that it is the civil servants who have borne the brunt of our so-called anti-corruption crackdowns. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have said that, that is a scam! It is a scam because the basic understanding of what was meant by the use of lease financing to a layman is the fact that, because you are short of cash, you go to a financial institution that specialises in lease finance, pay your commitment fee and other up-front payments and, then, take delivery of whatever goods or services you require. Upon taking delivery of the goods and services, and as you continue to enjoy them, you are, thereafter, committed to making your monthly payments plus interest until such time that you have paid your dues to the financing entity in full. In short, it is the financing entity that takes the risk. It provides you with goods and services and for that, they earn some money by charging an interest. That, to us, is our understanding of lease financing. Dare I say that none of that was evident in any of those Anglo Leasing related projects! Mr. Speaker, Sir, despite commitment fees being paid; despite the fact that, payments were being made on a regular monthly basis, the Government did not receive the goods and services that it was supposed to be enjoying. The Government did not receive the benefits that it was supposed to receive under the financing arrangements. In a nutshell, what was happening was that, lease finance companies, many of whom we are yet to prove their actual existence, sprung up and merrily acted as middlemen. They merrily acted as middlemen, signed contracts with the Government, received funds from the Government and, in short, slowly passed on some of the money to legitimate suppliers. The suppliers, since they were not part of the initial deals said: \"We want our money before we deliver!\" So, we continued to pay. The so-called finance companies would hive off their chunk and pass it on. In a nutshell, the Government was financing itself through a middleman. The Government was paying interest on its own monies."
}