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{
    "id": 560162,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/560162/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 563,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Wakhungu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1889,
        "legal_name": "Chrisantus Wamalwa Wakhungu",
        "slug": "chrisantus-wamalwa-wakhungu"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, boards were missing in some corporations and yet a board is the highest decision-making body in any parastatal. How do you make decisions if the board is not in place? You will find that the management making decisions and yet there is no one to oversee it. In some situations, you will find that the chair of the board is there but there are no board members. So, you wonder who he or she is chairing. This is ridiculous. It seems like there is a conspiracy to loot and engage in corruption. We have seen many parastatals changing names, for example, the Cotton Board of Kenya. There is also the case of a plot in Riverside that was sold being undervalued. The asset register is not there but the plot was transferred at a throw away price. We had an issue concerning the KEPHIS land in Kitale. The land that was used for research was grabbed by powerful individuals and transferred to other people. So, it is important that as we look at these parastatals, we should know whether they are adding value or they are just there to waste taxpayers’ money. I want to agree with the Jubilee Government when it comes to the issue of integration of parastatals. There are some parastatals that exist but do not add value. They are just there as a vehicle for looting. I want to give an example of the NSSF. This is a very dangerous parastatal. It has issues to do with tenders. On evaluation, there are two critical areas; the financial aspect and the technical aspect. The people who do the technical evaluation are not supposed to look at the financial aspect. You wonder how someone who looked at the technical bit is the same person who looks at the financial bit and informs the bidder to make variations in the financial quotations. This violates the law and it is important that this time we call upon the Public Procurement Board to be on the lookout and scrutinize all procurement processes because this is where we have corruption. The GDC plays a very critical role as far as generation of electricity is concerned and we are told that it is supposed to produce the cheapest power. When we examined its accounts, we realized that they were audited by a private firm, which is allowed by the law. The private firm gave the GDC accounts a clean bill of health. The Auditor-General also gave the GDC books of account a clean bill of health. If you look at the GDC books of account further on page 72, you will realise that the Report shows that the African Bank, gave them money for purposes of procuring drilling rigs. We were told that two rigs were procured and they saved money but they went back to the donor and the donor told them to go and procure the third rig using the same conditionality. In a situation whereby donors are coming in, they should not come with their conditions. It does not mean that their conditions will make us circumvent the laws that exist in this country. However, with regard to GDC, if they were told to go and procure the third rig using the same conditions--- As a way forward, I want to state that development partners should not give us conditions. The procurement process must follow the provisions of the Constitution, especially Article 227. That provision allows for competition so that we can have as many bidders as possible. That way, Kenyans will get value for their money. If you look at some parastatals, you will realise that they are missing a policy on imprest. You will find that an MD has used imprest, but he has stayed for almost one year without surrendering it. This is very critical when it comes to time-value of money. If people overstay 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."
}