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{
    "id": 50545,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/50545/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 249,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Oyongo Nyamweya",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 391,
        "legal_name": "Manson Oyongo Nyamweya",
        "slug": "manson-nyamweya"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me a chance to support this Motion. I also thank the Committee for doing a good job so that we can have a Budget which is more transparent and one that will make the Ministries more accountable. I will, first of all, go to Section 241 of the Constitution which hon. Members have referred to. The Constitution clearly identifies the Kenya Army, the Kenya Air Force and the Kenya Navy as constitutional offices. If they are constitutional offices, it is important that they be allocated funds separately. They should explain how they have used the funds instead of giving them a blanket amount of money. So, for that I support what the Committee has done. They have done a commendable job. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, when I look at the Budget, we talk about economic growth. When we look at economic growth, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance is relying on rain. I think it is time we stopped being simplistic as a nation. We cannot come up with a budget, give figures and say: “God, give us rain for us to get the money we need.” When I look at this Budget, I expect at least the Minister to come up with funds. We have got fresh water from Tana River going to the sea. I would expect him to come up with a programme on how we can make dams on Tana River, so that we have enough water for farming, irrigation and for our animals. We talk about North Eastern Province every year. A Budget is made and we treat North Eastern Province like it is not part of this country. It pains me when I see that in a Budget like this one, economic growth relies on rain and yet, we know agriculture is the biggest drive for economic growth. We have got water flowing into Lake Victoria. Year in, year out, there are floods on Kano Plains. This water should be harnessed. It would not cost a lot of money for this nation, if there is political goodwill from the leaders and the people who prepare this Budget. They should know that this country, Kenya, belongs to all of us. We should not have a budget tailored to favour specific regions. We need a budget which is inclusive and touches all parts of this country. So, I support this Budget because I believe the section covered by the Budget Committee, if it is followed and we are serious about it, will help this country. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, another point I would like to talk about is public debt. Personally, I have no problem with the public debt of this nation increasing so long as it is used to develop basic infrastructure facilities. If public debt is increased so that we sink more dams in the country, control floods or pump water to North Eastern Province, there is no problem in increasing it. We should not increase it for Goldenberg scandals. We should not increase it for Anglo Leasing scandals. That is where the problem is. The problem is not how much the Government is spending, but where the money is going. Who is benefiting from the resources of this country? If that money is used to build modern ports, roads, to increase supply of electricity, there is nothing wrong in increasing it. As long as it is spent for the good of the nation, there is nothing wrong with us increasing it. So long as it is not used like it has been in the past to promote scandals in this country, it can be increased. Another point I would like to mention is reallocation of funds. This is a ritual done in this country every time. We have just passed the Supplementary Estimates. This money will be used within one month. What is the rush? Why does Treasury wait for the month of April to bring Supplementary Estimates to be used for one month only? We are talking of billions of shillings. To me, this is a way of using funds in an improper way. Given that money has just been given, when will goods be purchased? When will services be procured? Why can the Supplementary Budget not come earlier? If the budget is brought earlier, funds can be utilized properly. Now money will be spent in a rush because the financial year is about to close. Where does that lead this nation to? This happens every year. To me, the Ministry needs to look at the issue of allocation of funds, so that funds are allocated properly. The Ministry needs to put a ceiling so that it is not abused. A time like this when the national Budget is being prepared, Ministries are rushing to spend the money they have been given. What was happening before that? So, I support the idea that we need a ceiling on the amount of money that can be allocated to a Ministry. Who knows, it could even be a trick to move money from one location to another to favour particular firms. The challenge here is, when will these goods be procured? Will the procurement system by the Ministries be used or the suppliers have already been selected; they have been given Local Purchase Orders (LPOs) and they are waiting to deliver goods or “air”. We have talked about the environment, water and irrigation. Really, there needs to be a deliberate policy to increase production in agriculture by use of irrigation. They were talking about a policy of 10 per cent. We should look for more money so that more funds are available to develop agriculture, so that we produce enough food in this country. The other day we were talking about removing Import Duty on maize and wheat. The truth here is that in the world market, people are struggling to feed themselves. Every nation is struggling to feed itself. This is the case everywhere. So, it is important for us, as a nation, to put our priorities right. We should address the issues of irrigation in rural areas and how we can help to reduce poverty. This can only happen if the Government takes deliberate steps to provide funds. We had money for the ESP, but this year it is not provided for. Projects which were started cannot be financed. This shows that the Government is not serious when it comes to developing certain areas so that we, as a nation, move forward. Since other hon. Members want to contribute to this Motion, I beg to support it. I believe it is good for the nation. Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker."
}