{"id":685584,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/685584/?format=json","text_counter":217,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Oyugi","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":444,"legal_name":"Augostinho Neto Oyugi","slug":"augostinho-neto-oyugi"},"content":"The 10th recommendation talks about the circular dated 18th July 2007, issued by the former Head of the Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet, Amb. Francis Muthaura. The circular bars members of the inspectorate from sitting in boards of state corporations unless they are invited. The number of times public officers have used circulars, memos and regulations to disregard Acts of Parliament are several. We need the Committee on Implementation to help public officers understand and appreciate that Cabinet memos or ministerial memos or regulations cannot supersede what is contained in legislation. Under Article 95 of the Constitution, Parliament has been given the sole authority to make anything with a force of law. Even in circumstances where such authority is delegated, it ought to be with the approval of the National Assembly. It is not pretty for a CS sitting somewhere else to make or bar people from sitting in these institutions by the authority of a memo. That is why the Committee on Implementation ought to proceed in a manner that will help officers in the public service to understand their roles with regard to legislation and regulations. The 11th recommendation is with regard to reforms in parastatals like the Women Enterprise Development Fund (WEDF), Uwezo Fund (UF) and the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority. One of my colleagues, without anticipating debate, has proposed legislation. We need to bring all these Funds into one house where they can be executed properly. These Funds have been created for purposes of helping the women and young people of this country. The mechanisms with which they should be borrowed and the grants made available should be easy to deal with. The amount of unemployment these Funds ought to be dealing with is immense. Therefore, we should not make it very difficult for the young people of this country to access grants and loans. In this country, one person can steal a whopping Kshs400 million. This is the amount of money which should have been given to our young people in form of grants, not even loans. Even when funds are said to be available in form of loans, the stringent requirements that are put in place by the funds administrators are prohibitive. Let us put all the Funds under one piece of legislation and make it easier to administer them to ensure that the young people of this country access the loans. Lastly, I would like to speak to the 14th recommendation, where the Committee purports to direct the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on what to do. Whereas I respect and agree with this recommendation, the Committee should have limited itself---"}