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{
    "id": 449243,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/449243/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 185,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mulu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1955,
        "legal_name": "Benson Makali Mulu",
        "slug": "benson-makali-mulu"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Speaker. I also rise to support the adoption of this Report by the Budget and Appropriations Committee; even as I do that, I think there are a number of things we need to note. The first thing relates to the issue of a Supplementary Budget. The Constitution is quite clear that the Government is expected to spend money in situations where we have emergencies or unexpected events. If that happens, there is a provision that expenditure can be regularized within two months after the expenditure through Parliament. That means, Parliament has to approve a number of Supplementary Budgets for the Government. They can even be as many as six in a year. The question is, is the whole issue of supplementary budgets the best practice? The answer is “no”; internationally, this is not the best practice, basically because it erodes the credibility of the budgeting process. At the same time, it is a very clear pointer to the fact that we are not getting it right in terms of planning and budgeting. What that says is, even though the legal framework actually supports the issue of supplementary budgets, international best practice demands that we minimize them. The other thing we need to note is that, if you read this Supplementary Budget, there is the whole issue of reducing development budget and actually increasing recurrent budget; at the same time, there is the issue of reallocating resources from development budget to recurrent budget. That is quite worrying and I think if this House has to do good to Kenyans, then that is a trend that must stop. When we go to the first budget, we have what we call projections in terms of economic growth of this country. I remember that last year’s projection was 5.8 per cent. For us to achieve that growth rate--- It will be very tricky if we get to the situation where we have money for development being reduced, or reallocated from development to recurrent. That is a trend which must stop. I think the Executive must make sure that it stops. The other worrying bit is that when you read this Supplementary Budget, you realize that the State Department for Infrastructure and the State Department for Agriculture have had their budgets reduced. That is another area that is worrying; you know, as part of economic growth, there are some key sectors which contribute to the projected economic growth. Some of that growth is actually in agriculture and infrastructure sectors. In a situation where you see allocations to these departments being reduced--- That is a clear signal that we are not going to achieve our economic growth. In future, this is an area which will need to be looked at, and, if possible, be protected, so that the budget set for infrastructure and agricultural is actually a 100 percent spent. The other issue which needs to be noted is that of the programme budget versus where we need to get clear output and targets in terms of what the budget should achieve. I think we are just repeating this. We have said this many times. I want to support what the Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee has said. The Executive or the National Treasury, needs to take the recommendations of this House seriously, so that we do not keep on talking and this becomes a talk show other than a House which has been given the mandate by the Constitution to engage seriously in budget making process. I want just to say something small about the public debt. When you look at the public debt indicators currently for Kenya, we are actually not badly off and they are within a manageable range. As some Members might be aware, we have been trying to do what we call rebasing of the GDP; that means coming up with a different base year. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}