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{
    "id": 73331,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/73331/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 331,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "news to celebrate. But having said that, we should not sit in our laurels; we should, on the contrary as a Government, double our efforts to implement the provisions of this Constitution and to correct the wrongs of the past of not taking up recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Public Investments Committee (PIC) in time and bringing them to Parliament so that Parliament can debate them in a contemporary way and not in a historical way. First, I would like to comment on a few issues raised by Ms. Karua in her contribution this afternoon. She referred to the Pending Bills Committee which was initiated by the NARC Government in 2003 and I was a member of that Committee. The aim of that Committee was to ensure that the Government verifies all pending bills; decides which were genuine bills that it should pay; decides which ones were fraudulent and, therefore, worth investigations and prosecutions and decides which ones were doubtful, though not necessarily fraudulent and, therefore, needed verification so that the amounts claimed could be determined to factual levels. This committee was also the Cabinet Committee on Corruption which went further to deal with the bills that were arrived at in a corrupt manner and recommend action by the Government; such bills as those Ms. Karua has said related to Anglo Leasing and so on. I remember that this was not a very easy task. It was a monumental task and as you can remember and now it is known to Kenyans that its output led to substantial knowledge on the extent and nature of corruption in the Government and what eventually needed to be done to tighten the screws of the anti-corruption institutions and anti-corruption steps that the Government could take to stop such occurrences in future. The fact that the committee has lived too long may be a pointer to the monumental task that was needed to be done and the fact that its life is now pegged to end on 31st December this year, should lead to the demand that its achievements should be as was intended when it was established. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the reasons why the Government tends to arrive at pending bills are many but I want to touch on a few which I think need attention - some of which are currently receiving attention - of this House because this House is the law making institution for the people of Kenya and hence, it bears the responsibility to lay down the ground rules for legally enforcing accountability processes and responsibility in the Government. First is the issue of procurement rules. When the current procurement rules were brought into place in the 1990s, it was as a response of the pressure of the donor community and the people of Kenya that procurement in the Government was lackluster. To some extent, a reaction to that lackluster character of procurement which led to corruption and misuse could have led us to write into law or into rules and regulations, procedures that further complicated the matter. That further brought into play, elements of hesitation in decision making or elements of unnecessary litigation once decisions were made; and, when those who were aggrieved by those decisions took undue advantage of the legal process to delay the implementation of programmes in the Government and hence, sabotage or undermine development. For that reason, it is high time that these procurement rules were looked at very carefully by the Government and by this House to ensure that rules were not made for men and not men for rules; and that these rules should first ensure transparency and accountability in the manner in which decisions are made in the Government and resources are used but at the same time, undertake to see that efficiency and prompt implementation of Government policies and development programmes are also achieved. This is because the people of Kenya expect this Government not only to use public resources efficiently and accountably but also to ensure that the use of these"
}