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{
    "id": 651558,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/651558/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 110,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ochieng",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2955,
        "legal_name": "David Ouma Ochieng'",
        "slug": "david-ouma-ochieng"
    },
    "content": "Leadership should not be about looking for money every time. We should take our Committee business seriously and work for the people. I want to talk to the former Chairman of the Committee. The Budget and Appropriations Committee should bring a balanced Budget to this House; a Budget that will not have a supplementary budget and over-shoots and one that we do not have to borrow money. That is why we have a Budget and Appropriations Committee to do budgeting. Parliament should balance the Budget based on the monies raised through taxes. We should not keep borrowing and our Budget and Appropriations Committee keep receiving proposals from the Government. Proposals should come from the Floor of the House discussed collectively with the ministries concerned. We are just a pendulum or a conveyor belt because we are not budgeting as a House. We should take that role seriously. We are aware - and we have been told by the Leader of the Majority Party - that there are many Bills, particularly money Bills, that are pending. I personally have three Bills to be taken to that Committee and we hope that they realise the gravity and the sense of urgency of pending work. Much as we have issues with that Committee, we will allow it to pass today because we need to have this country moving. There are so many people in this country who are waiting to go along with us and we cannot move forward if the leadership of this country, which has been given the authority, is going to play monkey games with us. We have heard this afternoon that the Committee had been induced. We cannot end corruption if there is a perception that Members are using their Committee positions to gain something not only for their constituents, but probably for their personal gain. As we do this, we are in the penultimate stage of our term and we should have known that it does not matter whether you are in the Jubilee Coalition or in the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD). Kenyans want their problems to be solved. Kenyans do not want to see us fighting all the time. They do not care whether you grandstand or make the loudest noise. As a country, we always gain and do well when we pool together. If we stand apart and every time Hon. Duale speaks differently from this side, then it is the country that suffers and not us. That is because we have our salaries. In my view, we are the best paid in this country. We should work for our people. I want to urge the new Members of the Budget and Appropriations Committee and those taken to other Committees to discharge their duties with utmost good faith, care and ensure that, as a House and country, we get value for money. Corruption is not a big challenge to Kenya, but it is wastage of resources. The Budget and Appropriations Committee should see that if you want to buy a pen, then it is bought at Kshs10 and not Kshs100. Budgeting is our challenge. Ministries bring us their budgets and we pass them without looking at them closely. We are not even advised about the prices of various goods. We do not even question disparities in prices of pens in the various ministries. If we stop playing games and working for our own interests, then this country will do better than it has done before. Having only 14 months to go, history will judge us well if we discharge our mandate in a better manner than we have done before."
}