Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 62082,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/62082/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 271,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Every year, the Minister for Finance comes here to read the Budget to the House and the nation. In that Budget, there are two aspects to the allocations of the finances from the Consolidated Fund. The first aspect is called non-discretionary charge on the Consolidated Fund. Public debt is one of those non-discretionary charges on the Consolidated Fund. The other one is where he tells us we will do this or that. That is the discretionary part of the Budget. He tells us how he will raise the money and things like that. But this country has never been told clearly on the mandatory part. We have never been told how the debts will be paid. We are told: “This is an external loan and it has to be paid.” Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are told these debts have to be paid. We are told these are international commitments and we should not question them. Parliament has been debating a lot of things. However, it does not debate the biggest chunk of the money that is used to pay debts. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance comes here and says, “This one do not touch.” This is where the biggest rip off of the funds that we raise so painfully while working, takes place. This is where the public debts that we are told we cannot question go. This is where Anglo Leasing scandal continues. I came to discover as I was sitting in the Budget Committee that there are other debts this country has been paying. For example, there is the Asian Widows and Widowers Pension. Since Independence to date, we are still paying this money. If you look at the budget, you will see that aspect is lying on the charge to the Consolidated Account. The Minister will come here and say that these are non-discretionary payments that we, as a nation, must make. When you start questioning the payment of these debts, they bring up some very old two page Acts. They tell us we need to abolish or amend those Acts. They say that these Acts have been there. We are told that we do not have to question them because they have been there. We have continued to pay this money. Parliament has never had an opportunity to debate on these debts. These are things we cannot explain. Even if people were widows in 1964, surely, they must be dead. How long does a human being live? That widow must be suffering"
}