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{
    "id": 682080,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/682080/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 274,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ogolla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1264,
        "legal_name": "Gideon Ochanda Ogolla",
        "slug": "gideon-ochanda-ogolla"
    },
    "content": "We glorify the good life and how people live their lives without looking at how someone generates all those good things. We have been talking about conducting a lifestyle audit of those people. Nairobi is full of paper-pushers at the county headquarters. People who wake up only to push-paper from 10 O’clock and by midday they are done. They are the guys who use up quite a bit of resources that are in the hands of the government, both at the national level and the county level. This is a timely Bill and we need to support it. The other important thing is the role of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). Regardless of the way it has metamorphosed over a period of time, there is not a single period that this Commission has ever worked for two years without controversies. That is why I have a problem with the Bill. This Bill has placed the EACC in front of everything else in terms of reporting cases of corruption. You have to report to that Commission. The Commission is largely based in Nairobi. It is not anywhere else. The cases of corruption and incidents of bribery taking place outside Nairobi are massive. Saying that this Commission is the institution that we have to report to when there are issues that are related to bribery is something that needs to be looked at. We need additional agencies, either existing ones or decentralising agencies that exist so that people are able to access them. When you connect that with the cost of being a witness, it has been fairly inhibiting. My problem with this Bill is that the nature of the EACC and the way it has operated over a period of time cannot match the object of this Bill. We know how the issues of corruption and bribery have permeated to every level. Sometimes, I have joked at one moment that even our own workers at the constituency engage in all manner of things. These are things that happen largely due to what you could call workman’s bribery. We have been talking about workman’s compensation in terms of issues to do with incidents of damage or when one gets injured, but there are things that are happening behind us that you could call workman’s bribery. There are people who do not want to see your back. The issue of bribery has really permeated our community and society. This law, like some of us have said, need to look at the issues of penalties. What is happening in Tanzania is sometimes very interesting. Penalties have been made cheaper, but they are paid cumulatively. The Government gets a lot of money, but the people being fined realise that it is very expensive in the long run. In Tanzania, if your car is defective or, maybe, because you do not have a fire extinguisher, you pay the Government the equivalent of Kshs2,000 on the spot. You are given a week to rectify the problem. The following week, if that is not done, you still continue paying Kshs2,000 for that one single thing. The Government ends up generating a lot of money. On the other hand, it has been made cheaper in terms of how individuals can take care and make sure that some of those things are fixed. I beg to support the Bill. There are areas that need to be strengthened. Such issues like bribery should be looked into seriously in the country."
}