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    "id": 364621,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/364621/?format=api",
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    "content": "Therefore, I want to thank the Committee for relocating the funds that have been allocated for irrigation in schools. We must have schools concentrating on their core functions to improve educational performance. If students have to learn anything about agriculture, we should take them to agricultural institutions. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the saving of about Kshs319 million in respect of public procurement is also a good thing. But we need to go a step further to make sure that the bureaucratic procedures in public procurement are removed. We may say that we want to irrigate a million acres, but we will not be able to do so with the cumbersome public procurement procedures in place. One commendable thing that the Committee has done is stating the country’s public debt at Kshs1.2 trillion, against revenue collections of Kshs1.64 trillion. That is indicating that if we were to move in that direction, this country could be auctioned any moment. That is something very commendable on the part of the Committee. We want to continue with the reduction of public debt to the level of 20 per cent of the national revenue by ensuring that we live within our means. Continuous borrowing will not take us anywhere. I also want to thank hon. Benjamin Langat for the amendments that he has introduced to this Motion, especially the amendment relating to Public Service Commission. That is one of the oldest commissions in this country but we have, kind of, relegated it as we came up with other commissions, some of which may not be all that useful. Another commendable area is the transfer of money by the Government to semi- autonomous Government agencies. Some of those agencies have outlived their usefulness. When we established public enterprises, we went overboard and increased them to a level where the national revenue cannot accommodate them. What we need to do, as a matter of fact, is to commercialize the operations of all public enterprises with a view to having them operating within their own budgets and stopping their tendency to rush to the national Government for support. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the savings that we have realised, following the Committee’s proposals, is something commendable. Last year alone, we saved over Kshs19 billion out of the involvement of members of the public in the budget- making process. We could have saved more money if we had scrutinised the Budget in detail. Another issue I would like to speak about is the National Police Service Commission (NPSC). The NPSC must be equipped and funded adequately. Police officers must be provided with appropriate gear to enable them to tackle the insecurity that we are experiencing in this country. One of the sad things we are witnessing is the stand-off between the Inspector-General of Police (I-GP) and NPSC. That should not be happening at this time, when the country is required to make concerted efforts to restore security to the required level. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}