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{
"id": 682102,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/682102/?format=api",
"text_counter": 296,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. (Dr.) Kibunguchy",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 294,
"legal_name": "Enoch Wamalwa Kibunguchy",
"slug": "enoch-kibunguchy"
},
"content": "bridges. The most expensive that I have done is going to cost us Kshs5 million. Recently, one of the bridges that were built during the colonial days collapsed and I asked the people from the Ministry concerned with public works to come and give us an estimate of how much it will cost. We were given a cost of Kshs31 million yet it is a small bridge. I looked at it and I almost cried because the difference between the bridges we are constructing, which are of good quality, and what the Ministry is going to do, is almost 10 times the cost of what we are spending. That is really why the Government loses a lot of money in this country. I know many Members have gone through this. Most Government entities tend to hide whatever they are doing in terms of bribery when it comes to question of auditors. When auditors go to audit whatever work has been done, they give them a clean bill of health, but behind the scenes they have been bribed. When Wananchi go to the ground, they cannot see what the money has done in terms of physical facilities. In my constituency, I have always insisted that auditors should not only audit on paper, but they should look at the books and the procurement processes. They must also go to the ground and see the actual facility that has been done, so that they are satisfied that the amount of money that has gone into a particular facility is equivalent to the amount of money they have seen. That is the best auditing and I would like to encourage that as we go forward, we go that way. Many Members have alluded to the fact that in this country, we have two things that, in my view, fuel corruption and bribery. One, we have a mentality of instant coffee. We want to become rich instantly. It is like you wake up in the morning, boil water, put it in a cup and drop coffee in it and you start drinking it. Everybody wants to get rich quickly. People who have just graduated from universities want to get rich quickly. They want to drive a Prado like Dr. Kibunguchy. They want to drive big cars and live in big houses without knowing that you took many years to get to where you have reached. Unfortunately, in this country, people tend to worship people that have wealth, who can flout their wealth, move around and contribute big money in harambees . That is one area that fuels bribery and corruption. As many have said, we have passed many anti-corruption laws like the Public Officer Ethics Act. In my view, this country is ripe to get what I would call a benevolent dictator, somebody who can crack the whip and do something tangible. I think all these laws and cases which drag on forever will never get this country anywhere. We need a benevolent dictator. Like Hon. Kang’ata said, there is a President in Philippines who said that he was going to crash the drug lords and he is doing it. We need a President like that of Tanzania, President Magufuli, who after some time, is going to shape Tanzania to a country that many will admire. This country needs somebody who is strong and who can come down. Kenyans of goodwill give him the goodwill to do that work, so that we can make it extremely expensive to be involved in corruption and bribery. That must be actualised. Otherwise, we will pass laws, say that we need to deal with the giver and the taker, but get nowhere. Those are excellent words, but we must translate them into action and get a leader who can demonstrate and do that. We need to have a leader who can fight corruption. Our Presidents stay in office for two terms. In the first term, the President is very busy making sure that he pleases everybody, so that he can be voted in again. I do not know whether that eventually sorts us out. In the second term, we have a lame duck President. Everybody’s attention moves to other people who are supposed to succeed him. I am sure, if we get a President who can stamp his authority and get things moving, regardless of whether he will be stepping on the toes of the people who supported him"
}