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{
    "id": 472549,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/472549/?format=api",
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    "content": "of newspapers and tea for senior civil servants and buying cars. Time has come for us to say that we need fewer people and we can even pay them much better, but put performance must be the basis of retention and longevity in the Public Service both at national and county governments. Madam Temporary Speaker, some of the extravagances include some officers riding in a motorcade of ten to 20 cars, both at the national Government and the county governments. We must end this culture of consumerism. I do not see why people should be bought for daily newspapers by tax payers. If you want to read a newspaper, it does not matter who you are, buy it from the street like other Kenyans do. The report of the Auditor-General, both on national Government and county governments actually demonstrated huge sums of obscene amounts of money that are used for superfluous and useless things like newspapers, tea and putting flowers on the tables and side tables of senior civil servants. This has to come to a halt. I hope that beyond this Bill, the next level should be a level where we have a Bill that limits, synchronizes and harmonizes allowances and how much wastage we incur on civil servants. Truth be told, not all civil servants, just a small cadre as the majority of the public servants who work so hard, long hours are underpaid. Madam Temporary Speaker, there are teachers who spend numerous hours, beyond the call of duty, to take care of our children in public schools and nurses who are out there in rural outposts, some of which are very insecure, trying to save lives without enough facilities and transport, for meagre amounts of money. There are men and women in uniform who are risking their lives to make sure that the rest of our people in this country are safe and secure, but for only a pittance in form of pay. So, this monster called recurrent expenditure is big, hungry and ferocious. It has even been complicated by the new Constitution which has created even other layers of Government and numerous institutions. Unless we say “no” to spending our wealth on salaries, emoluments and unnecessary things like buying newspapers, flowers and teas, our country will grind to a halt. Madam Temporary Speaker, taxes that Kenyans pay are only going to service a small cadre of highly paid public servants in the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. It is a big shame that this is one of the few countries where it is lucrative to be in the public service. The salaries and emoluments that now the public sector in this country is attracting at the higher echelons of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature are giving private multinational companies nightmares, because they are poaching Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) from multinationals all over the world. Truth be told, we can even start from where we are; the salaries that we get as Members of Parliament. We know the pressure on Parliamentarians. I have always argued that even if you pay a Member of the National Assembly or Senator Kshs5 million per month, that money will not be enough. That money will be over within a week, because of the pressure that we go through. The Member of the National Assembly and the Senator are walking automatic teller machines. We finance marriage, death, birthdays and maternity costs of our constituents. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}