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{
    "id": 553471,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/553471/?format=api",
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    "content": "Hon. Speaker, it is also true that the Permanent Secretary (PS) did not also appear before our Committee. I wanted to find out how many Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) or PSs did not appear before the different Committees during the period of interrogation. Out of all the CSs and PSs, I was informed yesterday that it was only that particular Ministry. So, we cannot make a statement that, that is a general problem. It is an isolated case. I then went on to find out how come she was not there. When I talked to her on phone, she told me that she had been sent by the President to Mali. I wanted to find out from her the time she came back. She said she came back on Friday last week. She tried to do all she could on Saturday to reach the Committee so that she could explain herself, but it was not possible. I also wanted to find out where the PS was. She told me that she had been sent by the President to the United Kingdom (UK) because of the Miraa problem in Meru County. Let me tell Hon. Jakoyo Midiwo and this honourable House that after we went through the Budget Estimates, I had occasion yesterday to brief the President. I raised the issue with him. These are not matters we take lightly. The President wanted to know how many CSs appeared and the quality of engagement between the CSs, the PSs and the Committees. I say this to help Hon. Jakoyo Midiwo understand that these are not issues we take lightly. We do not! Can I also say that in the wisdom of our Standing Orders, the Budget and Appropriations Committee has plenary powers when it comes to the recommendations of the Committees of the House and the decisions that we make based on the recommendations that we get are never made lightly. I wish he could attend some of the meetings and see the difficulties we go through. There are never easy sessions and there are not easy decisions. There are so many things to balance. We were able to move about Kshs2.1 billion between the different votes, which is about 0.05 per cent of the total budget of Kshs1.99 trillion, just shy of Kshs2 trillion. I say this because I also raised this matter yesterday. We have raised the matter with the National Treasury and also with the Head of State that it is absolutely crucial that the Committees of the House be given greater discretion when we come to re-allocations and the budget-making process. What has happened so far - and we are on a learning curve - is that the discretion we have had so far is very limited. That has become definitely very frustrating for the Committees and also for us. We have raised it and, yesterday, we began to discuss percentages that we can then work with, as Committees of the House and also as the Budget and Appropriations Committee, in terms of the overall Budget, having received the Estimates from the National Treasury. The last thing you want to do is begin using your discretion to burst ceilings all over the map because that will create other serious macro-economic problems for this country. I thank you for allowing me to speak and just to get Hon. Jakoyo Midiwo, in good faith, to understand that these matters have exercised us enormously and we are doing all we can to address them now and going forward. I thank you. Do I now have your permission to move the Motion?"
}