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{
    "id": 449305,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/449305/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 247,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Prof.) Nyikal",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 434,
        "legal_name": "James Nyikal",
        "slug": "james-nyikal"
    },
    "content": "it is today, you cannot award or go into procurement process until the money is available yet as we all know, the Exchequer released the first time happens in August or September and there is very little for major projects. Whereas it is important that we make laws for procurement, we should look at areas where we should relax them so that work can go on without waiting. It is also important to note that most of the reductions we have are in development and so if we are in a process where we are always reducing development, then we as a country are not growing in areas of service delivery. I want to add my voice to the issue of Supplementary Budgets. This is the first time we are having two Budgets. I think the budget process in one year is a very tight schedule and to encourage more than one Supplementary Budget, I do not think the Budget and Appropriations Committee will be able to do it. We have managed this time but we have had to work sometimes overnight and sometimes over weekends. We must plan properly. We must implement properly so that we do not have the time consuming Supplementary Budget. We definitely cannot do two. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to comment about the increase that we have seen in this Budget to the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC). I have heard a few people say that we are looking after ourselves. In fact, the PSC is under a lot of stress; a huge Parliament has come on in a short time. We need offices and the entire infrastructure. So, I think that is as it should be and in my view, there is a lot that the PSC has to look at in terms of the welfare of its members. One area that I do not think we have looked at is that of the support staff we have, both for the constituency that we are funding and the security. There is cry here at the gate every afternoon saying “ askariwalipwe !” This is an issue we have not addressed because the security with us is seconded. I know they get a little money added to what they get but when we travel with them, they lose the per diem that their colleagues in other areas get. Even when they are in parastatals where they have money added, they still are entitled to their per diem. This is an area we should look at and the PSC may actually need more money because we have a huge Parliament. Let me just take this opportunity to comment about the railway. This is something we should support. The issue was not whether we need the railway but the cost. I will have to get more information. At Kshs447 billion for about a 500-kilometer railway line, we are talking of a billion per kilometer. I am not an engineer but that looks expensive. However, we still need the railway line. The shame that since Independence we have not even put up one inch of a railway, we cannot go on like that. I know that when the current railway line was being built, it was called the lunatic line because people did not realize how useful it would be until it was put in place. I also know that when the road to Mombasa was being put in place, people wondered why people wanted a road from Mombasa to Nairobi. We know how useful it is. So, however expensive it is and we should look at that expense, we should go on with this line. May I also add that we will not get the benefit if the line ends up in Nairobi and phase II must come on very quickly so that we can get the full benefits when it reaches Malaba, Uganda and Kisumu. Again, when we reach Kisumu, there were very extensive lake services that were connected to the railway. We should bring that in place from Kisumu, Entebbe, Bukoba and Mwanza, around the lake. It was an extremely useful link 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."
}