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{
"id": 461979,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/461979/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Mulu",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 1955,
"legal_name": "Benson Makali Mulu",
"slug": "benson-makali-mulu"
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"content": "Hon. Speaker, Sir, as hon. Members we interact with Kenyans on a day-to-day basis. This is my experience for the last six months that I have been in Parliament. Kenyans all over the country and more so in the rural setting, are actually starving. Very few Kenyans can afford two meals a day. At the same time, Kenyans are dying because of diseases as they cannot afford basic medical care. They cannot go to hospital and when they go there, they cannot afford drugs. So, what happens? They retreat to their homes and they die because they cannot afford the drugs. Hon. Speaker, so many Kenyans cannot bury their dead people. We are all Kenyans and we know how we value our dead relatives. But there are so many Kenyans whose relatives, sons and daughters cannot be buried because they just lack Kshs5,000 to pay for the mortuary fee and buy a simple coffin to go and bury their dead relatives. With this kind of scenario and you find the kind of wastage senior government officers expose this country to, it is so sad. What is very surprising to me is the kind of expenditure we are talking about which is Recurrent Expenditure not development. Hon. Speaker, I want to agree with the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee that time has come when we as Kenyans need to shift our expenditure patterns and focus more on Development Expenditure than Recurrent Expenditure. This Motion contributes in a big way towards moving our expenditure patterns from recurrent to development and that is why I support it. At the same time, the kind of senior officers we are talking about here are officers who can afford to upgrade their tickets. Hon. Speaker, Sir, we are not denying any senior Kenyan the opportunity to travel First or Business Class, but what we are saying is that you can upgrade your ticket using your own resources. It is a known fact that, in terms of income inequalities, there are Kenyans who are very rich and they can travel First Class any time they travel. Therefore, we are not saying that they downgrade their tickets to Economy Class. Hon. Speaker, Sir, I want to congratulate hon. Members of Parliament because they travel in Economy Class; although I have had a rider. I have been discussing with some of the senior Government officers and they say that hon. Members are duty bound to travel in Economy Class because that is where votes are more, compared to Business Class. So, when you travel in Economy Class you attract more votes to yourself. But I want to believe that this should not be the thinking. All of us should be economical because we want to save money for Kenyans so that when they ask for health care, we are able to provide them and when they ask for money to educate their children, we are able to provide it. Hon. Speaker, Sir, what surprises most is the issue of insecurity in this country. I get very pained when I go to my rural areas and find that people have been attacked by thugs and police cannot respond because they do not have fuel. Others do not even have a vehicle. So, if we save this money, we can provide money to fuel police vehicles so that when their security is threatened, we can respond to their need. Lastly, the other day when we passed the VAT Bill, Kenyans were up in arms. They said they cannot afford bread, sugar, milk and other basic commodities. These are basic needs. Remember when you are in First Class and Business Class cabin and you are enjoying yourself there stretching, there is a Kenyan who cannot afford milk. I think that is insensitivity of the highest order. 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."
}