Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 603408,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/603408/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 39,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Kanyua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 981,
        "legal_name": "Priscilla Nyokabi Kanyua",
        "slug": "priscilla-nyokabi-kanyua"
    },
    "content": "transparency and the same applies to the Quran and Prophet Mohammed. Information, openness, truth and justice are all important concepts in our religion. On economics, foreign direct investments in countries with access to information are higher. In the East African region, we continue to compete with Rwanda. I would like to share with the House that I had a hand in drafting and passage of Rwandan Bill on Access to Information. Since the Rwandan Government has access to information law we find that a fair amount of foreign direct investments that should come to Kenya as the regional business hub, chooses to go to Rwanda, which has better governance structures than Kenya. We want to surpass other countries in Africa and compete at our rightful level in Africa; therefore, information for the purposes of the economics and free trade becomes very critical. Among the groups that have supported this law the most is the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), understanding that access to information is important for economics. The last part of it is our role as legislature in the Budget-making process. We raised our Budget that passed to Kshs2.2 trillion passed. This meant that every day Kenya would spend Kshs6 billion. I am not sure whether we asked ourselves if our economy can do Kshs6 billion in a day. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, when passing the Budget, access to information becomes very critical. For instance, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is the third largest employer in the Sub-Saharan in Africa with 286,000 employees. As we do our Budgets facts and figures become very important. As we look at a critical question like teachers’ salaries, it is very important for us to look at the figures on the table. With 286,000 employees there is only so much we can do within the Budget system and budgeting processes. But of importance to note is, as legislators information is critical for the work that we do. In representation again a lot of data is required. My own county of Nyeri, for instance, leads in cases of diabetes in this country. This is very important Bill for us lawmakers and leaders in that county to continue countering diabetes and find ways in which it can be countered. I am aware that Mandera has the highest cases of maternal mortality. It is, therefore, very important for the leaders in that county to look at the question like that based on the data available to them. As we do our oversight role, it is very critical that we have important information such as on the public debt, the dollar and other information on oversight that we need to keep our Cabinet Secretaries(CSs), Executive and our departments in check. Even on registration we need a lot of information in many occasions. Since we have not changed the National Assembly laws, Government officers are still allowed to give information to parliamentarians at the pleasure of the President. This is because we are still using laws that have not been amended after the new Constitution. Access to information would ensure that Government officers would give Parliament the right and accurate information for us to do our work of oversight, representation and legislation. The other benefits of the Bill include devolution. We now have 47 county governments with their own budgets. It has surprised me how difficult it is to get the final and accurate copy of any county’s budget. In fact many of us here - I have shared this with some Members of Parliament - have had to go to the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) to pick up a copy of our counties budgets. In my own county of Nyeri, even though I am the County Women Representative, I have had to use fairly strategic and creative methods to 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."
}