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{
    "id": 718445,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/718445/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 133,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kaluma",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1565,
        "legal_name": "George Peter Opondo Kaluma",
        "slug": "george-peter-opondo-kaluma"
    },
    "content": "“…requires the CS concerned to take the report on a proposal to privatise a parastatal or public body, to bring it before this House for approval”. What is being removed is the requirement that when there is a report on a proposal for privatisation, Parliament should not see it. What we are being told is, now the CS concerned will discuss it with the Cabinet and the Departmental Committee concerned will not have a day with it. Read it keenly. What does it mean for us? We have a situation with Kenya Airways now. We have been injecting billions of money. There are thoughts that we should be putting more billions there and you will hear that the CS sat with the Cabinet somewhere and without the representatives of the people in this House knowing, Kenya Airways has been privatised. How can we imagine that in this day and world? This is a dangerous Bill. You can imagine a situation where there is a parastatal and in as much as the Member for Homa Bay Town Constituency--- I am also a national leader. You are going to privatise KPA and the proposal will be treated by the CS concerned and the Cabinet without the relevant Departmental Committee knowing about it or the people’s representative in this House discussing it. This is what is being proposed for us to legislate. How do we accept that situation knowing as we do, that we have political leaders who are engaged in business? You will hear they have taken over these companies in their Cabinet committees and their Cabinet meetings of CS appointed by them and appointed by us. It cannot be. This is a Bill that is very dangerous. I am hoping for a situation where all Members of this House, can read through this Bill and internalize what it is seeking to deal with. In the last clause, what is being proposed is to reduce the quorum for meetings in the Commission so that the decisions or resolutions on privatisation are made easy. They are removing them from a minimum of eight to two-thirds, which is a threshold so low following these amendments. This will allow a few people to sit and resolve without so many sectors being involved, then you will hear a resolution has been made and this particular firm is gone. I urge Members not to support this Bill for the sake of it; interrogate the public interest in these matters. If they are against the general public interest just like this one, we should deal with it. I am personally looking into a situation where privatisation will be involving as much public participation as possible. This is why the Members of Parliament and the representatives of the people here are required to approve the members of the Commission and then they are required to approve in a debate a proposal to privatise any public firm. How do we remove such a thing? We will have a situation in which in the discharge of our role to the Budget, you inject billions then you are stuck with it. It is a dangerous way to go. I am looking forward to a situation where, instead of thinking of an issue such as this, we would make privatisation as open as possible and if possible, as easy and as efficient as possible. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I have two examples. My law firm was involved in the acquisition of what was Kenya Agricultural Chemical Food Engineering now called Molasses Plant in Kisumu. It was my law firm. I am saying this so that people who know and who can understand why we want clear laws can understand them. That was a public parastatal with loans and loans from the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) held together on the basis of a debenture. Then the KCB was seeking repayment of monies and the Government was saying “we are spending so much money” on what is now called Molasses Plant; “go ahead and sell it.” A public auction was held somewhere and my law firm went ahead to bid for Spectre International. I can tell this House today that there are difficulties we need to deal with in the realm of privatisation. We bid as a law firm at Kshs580 million for Spectre International. The second bid 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."
}