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{
    "id": 50644,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/50644/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 348,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Bahari",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 156,
        "legal_name": "Abdul Bahari Ali Jillo",
        "slug": "bahari-ali-jillo"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I thank you for giving me the chance to contribute to this Motion. From the outset, I want to support this Motion because this very important issue came up as a result of reforms which this Parliament has undertaken. Indeed, in the old dispensation, before the Financial Management Act came into force, as Parliament, we did not have the opportunity to discuss Budget Policy Statements. It is only through reforms that this country is where it is now, in terms of alleviating poverty, ensuring education for all and ensuring that the citizens of this country live honourable lives, and not the lives of desperation that we have seen. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Parliament should not just be talking. Parliament should be the one to bring the amendments to Acts as well as new laws, so that this country can move forward. In the past, you would come to Parliament and just talk, and that would be the end of everything. Parliament can now act. I will give an example of the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF). When the CDF Act was put into place, Members of the Back Bench had to literally arm-twist the Executive into implementing it. If you refer to history, you will realise that we declined to pass the Appropriation Bill, until and unless the CDF Act was implemented by the then Minister for Finance. You can now see that today, the CDF has brought development to a level we could not have imagined before. You are a witness as to how many countries in Africa have come here to study the example of CDF that Kenya has put in place. Many countries in Africa have borrowed the CDF model, and they have introduced it in their countries. So, we must appreciate this development. Always, when it comes to reforms, there must be those who will be opposed to change. Therefore, it is incumbent upon this House to always look into the issue of reforms because it gives us an edge over and above other countries. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to come back to the issue of the economy, because this debate is not about the defence forces, and we should move away from the defence forces. The world over, the economic situation has become very difficult. You have seen how the issue of food prices and the prices of other commodities has affected India. Currency devaluation is a global matter. It is, therefore, important that we treat these issues as global issues. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is important that we treat these issues like global issues and avoid the temptation to localize some of our arguments that I have seen on the Floor of this House. It is only then---"
}