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{
    "id": 625881,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/625881/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 535,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Gethenji",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2874,
        "legal_name": "James Ndungu Gethenji",
        "slug": "james-ndungu-gethenji"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I rise to support the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) and to congratulate my colleagues, particularly the Chairperson of the Liaison Committee, all the Chairs and Members of the various Committees for the work they have put into this Report. Lamentation has been made that Parliament seems to be engaging in an exercise in futility. This has been an accusation for the last three or four years when this Parliament has been charged with the responsibility of making the Budget. There needs to be some sort of education for Members of Parliament on the flexibility of the sector ceilings and the movement of funds between votes, so that we can be aware of the limitations of Parliament as the Estimates come from the Treasury and as the Budget Policy Statement also comes from the Treasury and the various line Ministries. It is the feeling of many Members, including many Chairpersons of Committees, that when they are presented with the BPS, there is very little room for them to make amendments or adjustments, either upwards or downwards, with regard to programmes that they may feel have been justifiably presented to them for additional funding, that during their oversight role they have identified deficiencies. I will give you an example. The Departmental Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations finds challenges in the development part of the Budget, particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and even the Ministry of Defence. For Recurrent Expenditure that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has approved in their Budget, the National Treasury is having serious challenges in meeting the Exchequer requirements for approved Budgets. We are challenged in the next Budget cycle, when the Development Vote, which has been passed in the previous year has not been funded and now reappears in the next financial year. This area needs to be addressed carefully because it is leading to despondency amongst Members, who feel that we are not doing anything of significance. We have been made to appreciate that when we make a decision on additional funding or removal of funding for particular programmes in the Estimates or even in the policy itself, this is going to be adopted by the National Treasury and implemented down to the line Ministry. I need to stress the issue of the Exchequer and development programmes for foreign affairs because the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury is listening and this is an issue that we have taken up directly with the Treasury. The Exchequer requirements for funded budgets for the last financial year must be met because it is negatively affecting the national image of Kenya in the countries that we are represented. It also affects the good work that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Executive is doing in popularising Kenya as an investment, business and tourist destination. Our chanceries and embassies are struggling in the countries in which ambassadors are representing us. Hon. Speaker, I wish to speak to the matter of defence and defence modernisation. Naturally, I am sensitive to national security considerations, but everybody is aware that this country faces significant threats because of the neighbourhood in which we sit. The challenges we have had in the neighbourhood with Somalia, Al Shabaab, Operation Linda Nchi and subsequent deployment in AMISOM leaves us in a position where we feel that we must have the requisite military posture to defend our national interests and our growing economy. In the 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."
}