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{
    "id": 254365,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/254365/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 201,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kenyatta",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 168,
        "legal_name": "Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta",
        "slug": "uhuru-kenyatta"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. May I, if you will allow me, answer him in one specific issue that is contained in my Report. The fact that a Ministry in which he is the Minister is actually holding this Committee's work because the audit Report for the 18 projects we are referring to in this Report were actually submitted to his Ministry a long time ago. Why has he not laid those Reports on the Table so that we can deliberate on them? Mr. Speaker, Sir, the issue here, as you have correctly stated, is not about an individual, and I stated that from the very onset. This is not about the Government today or the Government April 5, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 387 yesterday. This is about the lives of 30 million Kenyans and the resources that are put to their disposal, which are currently being misused by a few individuals. This is what this House must put an end to! Mr. Speaker, Sir, you asked for maturity and I have tried to have that maturity that you asked for. In our recommendations, we have said that the use of promissory notes as a means of financing Government expenditure should be restricted and vetted to avoid misuse. We said that because there was no financing that these firms were providing. It was the Government financing itself. How was the Government financing itself? It would issue promissory notes that these fictitious companies would go and secure credit on our guarantee and continue to supply us with whatever it is that they were doing. We have said in this Report here that the system of issuing promissory notes and incurring debts needs to be brought under control and clear supervision of this House. When the Minister for Finance is presenting the national Budget, he must present to Parliament a complete list and an explanation of all those debt items. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Accounting Officer in charge of internal security should ensure that security equipment is categorised. Why do we say so? It is because a loophole was found in the procurement process of security equipment. We saw it being used even in the procurement of postal and communication systems equipment. What is of a security nature in acquiring a VSAT machine? We also saw it being used in the procurement of meteorological equipment. What is of security nature in knowing whether it will rain or not? We, therefore, need to categorise security equipment in order for us to ascertain the degree of secrecy required in the procurement process. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, perhaps, this will satisfy hon. Katuku. We have also recommended in our Report that since the Controller and Auditor-General has audited all the 18 security-related contracts, the Minister for Finance should ensure that the audited Reports are urgently laid on the Table in this House. We have also stated that for far too long, this country has been fleeced under the guise of acquiring security equipment. We have given a lot of authority to civil servants who have been elected by nobody. They are just appointees of individuals like you and me. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is also true that there are Members sitting on the Front Bench on the Government side who have, as part of their duties as Government Ministers, taken an oath of secrecy and are hence entitled to look at some of those secret documents. Our Committee, therefore, in full acknowledgement that the 222 Members of Parliament are potential Ministers, recommends that a Committee of this House be formed and also be subjected to the oath of secrecy. Such a Committee will, on behalf of this House, be responsible for investigating and looking into all security-related issues so that we ensure that there is accountability and transparency."
}