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{
    "id": 541819,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/541819/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 91,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Maanzo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2197,
        "legal_name": "Daniel Kitonga Maanzo",
        "slug": "daniel-kitonga-maanzo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to comment on the Report on Recapitalization and Balance Sheet Restructuring of Telkom Kenya Limited. I listened to the Mover and looked at the Report together with its recommendations as well as part of the proceedings of the Committee. It seems that there was a very well-orchestrated plan to loot from public coffers or in the alternative, there was a lot of negligence while handling public assets. Privatization has become the order of the day in this country currently. We have proposals for privatization of the New Kenya Co-operatives Creameries (KCC) and many other institutions that are belonging to the Government. It seems as if the public is losing and they have no defender. The public enterprises that are targeted for privatization include sugar companies. Reports have been produced in this House. As a country, we need to re-think the strategy of privatization. The Committee has recommended that the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) should investigate and charge the officials from the National Treasury and the Ministry of Communication, Information and Technology who were involved in the privatization process of that entity, if they are found to have neglected their duties, stolen public resources or assisted people to steal from public coffers. The EACC has a lot of work to do in this matter. If you look at the Committee’s Minutes of 2013, one of the observations you are likely to see is that the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) was never involved in the privatization of Telkom Kenya and yet, it is the CCK which is legally supposed to give approval, without which the whole transaction becomes a nullity in law. Telkom Kenya Limited has been making losses since it is charging less than the standard inter- connectivity charge for internet and other services. The country was losing 50 cents in every transaction. There has been a lot of negligence by Government officials. Going forward, because we have so many other public institutions lined up for privatization, the strategy has to be re-looked at afresh. The Privatization Commission, as constituted currently, needs to be re-looked again because we now have a Commission responsible for advising the Government on privatization. The National Treasury, together with the Ministries in charge of areas to be privatized, seems not to be very much involved. Parliament, through its relevant Committees, should be involved in privatization. We represent the people and we can speak on their behalf. We can re-look at the situation with a view to correcting mistakes before public resources are looted through the impending privatization of various public sectors. Every time a public entity is earmarked for privatization, we have an international company which is supposed to be investing in the country. It is time that we started believing in ourselves, as Kenyans. We can do better in our country. We have sufficient capacity to inject enough capital into our own businesses. Most of the time, the identities of the so-called ‘strategic partner’ are not disclosed, just like in the case of Telkom Kenya. You find that further investigations have always to be conducted as we, as a country, get duped, with lots of monies getting lost and public properties being sold at throw-away prices. Some of the properties are not even properly identified. 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."
}