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{
    "id": 797498,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/797498/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 175,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ng’ongo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "losing about Kshs34 billion to pay someone who is conning us in Ruaraka! Money that should develop our roads and then you claim we do not have money in this country. We have money, but we have many thieves who steal this money to the extent that money cannot be enough to develop this country. That is what we must fight. I am happy that the Departmental Committee on Lands is investigating this matter. I want to speak to the Committee as part of the leadership of this House. This is a matter that you must approach for the best interest of this country. Please do not allow any other thinking to cloud your minds. Before I conclude, I want you to allow me to respond to some attack that was directed at me by my very good friend, someone I have never disagreed with, the Chairman of County Public Investments and Accounts Committee in the Senate, Moses Otieno Kajwang’. He attacked me somewhere that I questioned why the Senate is involved in the same matter that a committee of the National Assembly is involved in. With honesty—and this is not fighting the Senate in any way; I have no interest in fighting the Senate at all—if a matter is seized of by a National Assembly committee, it is a waste of public resources and confusing to again have it dealt with at the Senate. I am saying this because I know counties are wasting money; the Senate has a lot of work on their plate—to make sure that they look at all the accounts of counties. The Auditor- General has done his work. There are audit queries in all the 47 counties. The expenditure of money sent to the counties cannot be explained. I think the Senate has enough on their plate to the extent that I do not see why a matter that has not been devolved, like education because this money was voted to education, should concern the Senate. I asked with a clear mind. I could be wrong; I am not an angel, but it is not a reason for anybody to attack me as if I had issues with the Senate in general. I just had issue with that matter. There is also some money that, although we have approved it, should also be looked at: the Kshs1.7 billion that we have allocated for buying scanners for some specific counties. The question we want to ask is why the national Government is obsessed with buying this medical equipment without clear explanation. One of the items in the Big Four Agenda is universal healthcare, but if we are not careful, my concern with these flagship projects is the moment the Government makes a policy pronouncement on a major item, there are already people waiting somewhere and scheming how to use that good agenda of Government to take money to enrich themselves. Therefore, we will look at this matter again. I want to thank my Chairperson for moving that amendment in the afternoon on the Ruaraka land. We will relook at these areas of buying and leasing. Now it has moved from leasing to purchasing medical equipment. We were leasing the other time. Before even clear explanation is given on that, now we are buying. We need to understand whether there is value for money. There are people who think we are spending so much money beyond the ordinary or reasonable price for those equipment. I want to end there because I know many of my colleagues would also want to add their voices on this Bill. I support and I support the amendment, even before it is moved by the chairman of my committee. I have spoken a lot because I realised that I hold a record in this country as the only Member of Parliament who has been in the Budget and Appropriations Committee ever since it was born. The Committee was born in 2008 and I have been in it all this time. I am happy that this time the membership that we have is very objective in their assessment and very enthusiastic in their understanding of the Budget Estimates. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I support."
}