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"id": 737624,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/737624/?format=api",
"text_counter": 131,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. (Dr.) Simiyu",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 141,
"legal_name": "David Eseli Simiyu",
"slug": "david-eseli"
},
"content": "Article 226(5) of the Constitution reads very clearly that if the holder of a public office, including a political office, directs or approves the use of public funds contrary to law or instructions, the person is liable for any loss arising from that use and shall make good the loss whether the person remains the holder of the office or not. None of that has ever been enforced. Hence, public officers continue mismanaging our resources. In an attempt to control the problem, a circular was issued on 2nd December 2014 at State House giving the Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) immense power to control what goes on in their respective Ministries. However, up to date, if a CS is caught in such a situation, he or she will still want to pass the buck to the Principal Secretary (PS) as the Accounting Officer. Yet, we are well aware that such a circular exists and immense powers were given to CSs. So, any CS who tries to pass the buck knows exactly what they are doing in terms of trying to cover up for whatever ills that they might have committed. When I look at the famine ravaging Kenya and I look at the colossal sums that were misappropriated here, I am made to think that we have a disease affecting us. When we started investigating, we were thinking of Kshs675 million but, as we went on, the figure kept on ballooning to the extent that the investigation got way beyond the ability of the Committee to accomplish. That is why, in our recommendations, we have asked for more drastic investigations because, by the look of things, what might have been lost is Kshs23 billion. That is a lot of money. Counties would have done well with some of that money but then, the misappropriation has also permeated down to the counties. It is very sad that such a thing could be allowed to happen. It was well orchestrated. It was well thought-out. When you look at how one Adan Harakhe was fast-tracked into the NYS and you look at the past records of that officer, then you will realise that he was a “special purpose vehicle” sent to NYS to accomplish certain things. These are some of the things that he accomplished. The problem with NYS was that somebody had already set it up as a “milk cow” such that supplementary budgets were requested specifically for “eating”, if I might say so. The system had been well set out. In fact, at the look of things, even that Ben Gethi and Kabura were just fronts. When you look at the confidence with which they appeared before the Committee, it tells you they felt that they were well protected. That is why they had that confidence to mislead the Committee and, at times, answer questions in such a brazen manner like carrying the money in sacks casually from a bank. Those people felt well protected because they are not the exact masterminds. But they were just what you call proxies or fronts for people high up who were doing that work. It is not possible as a Parliament to effectively unearth this. In fact, under the circumstances, I believe the officers in agencies responsible for that should actually have resigned for failing to do their duties, but they did not resign. So, are they complicit? Are they part of the web? That is because they totally failed. Even the prosecution says the few people they are prosecuting are just a tip of the iceberg because, as you look at our Report of the “ lootocracy” that was involved here, you will find that there is a whole list. Almost every bank in this country was involved. You find numerous companies that might have been involved. Some of them have very interesting names which just shows how hurriedly they were set up. Perhaps, this scam is one of the largest from any single ministry to hit this country, especially with money voted for by this Parliament. I think this Parliament also stands indicted. Why do we approve huge allocations to ministries that do not have the capacity to absorb? History bears me out. If you remember the investigation on the Judiciary, they were allocated a lot of money suddenly and they could not absorb it. So, they ran helter-skelter trying to finish whatever they had been allocated. In the 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."
}