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    "id": 550764,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/550764/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 215,
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    "content": "Kenyans said that we should give preference. We call it in law “positive discrimination.” I have not seen this. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the other thing that I would have loved to see in a little great detail is not covered under Clause 17(6) which I think we will propose an amendment, is this: We know that most problems in this country arise out of people who take contracts for two years and take seven to deliver. There is no recourse or sanctions and nobody bothers with them. They are blacklisted on paper, but they get other contracts from other places and nothing happens. We forgot some of the sanctions. Article 227(2)(c) of the Constitution says that there should be sanctions against contractors who have not performed according to professionally regulated procedures and persons who have defaulted on their tax obligations. Although the Committee on Finance, Commerce and Budget which I am a Member has conducted public hearings, I would propose that we look at Chapter 15 on offences and sanctions, so that we can put on notice contractors who are famous for doing shoddy work. In my county, we have so many of them who have built 20 kilometres of roads for over ten years. They have disappeared and nobody has taken action against them. I would love to see some action taken against them. If for anything, it will make me sleep well at night. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this Bill has introduced very novel clauses. I just want to highlight some of them. There is a proposal that in specialized contracts in public entities exceeding Kshs5 billion, those contracts will have to be cleared by the Attorney General and Cabinet Secretary in charge of procurement. These fly-by-night contractors who are all over the place, who seem to have some element of judicial immunity from prosecution will be tackled at this level. The establishment of regional panels of the administrative review board is also something that I find very novel in this proposed Bill. That will help in addressing some of the concerns and delays in procurement. We know that the bulk of corruption in this Republic happens at procurement. Procurement in this country has become what I call “a textbook exercise” where before you advertise for procurement the persons who are going to get the job are already known. This is a practice that has devolved to our counties. We are sounding a warning, they should be told that time has run out and we are going to catch up with them soon. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the appointment of membership of the regulatory board has been tackled by the Senate Majority Leader. I do not want to go to that. The setting of terms and conditions of service, Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to comply with the Constitution but the incorporation of LSK, a body that we respect, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK), Kenya Institute of Supplies Management, and the association of professional societies---. We will make sure that we remove quacks and fly by night contractors. I have also mentioned the issue regarding the approval of the Attorney-General (AG), the Cabinet Secretary (SC) of contracts under paragraph134 that are above kshs5 billion. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, regarding the preferences and reservations of budgetary allocations to women which is in Clause 53(6), we will reiterate this if it is the only thing that we are going to say, that our women and youth must participate in 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."
}