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{
    "id": 801184,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/801184/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 96,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kimani",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1179,
        "legal_name": "Onesmas Kimani Ngunjiri",
        "slug": "onesmas-kimani-ngunjiri"
    },
    "content": "I am very happy for the progress made in terms of arrests made and the many files that have been taken for further investigations. However, that having been said and done, as a country, we are tired of situations where we celebrate because public officers resign once a theft has occurred. Whether someone resigns 10 or 50 times, the fact remains that public money has been lost and the gains we should have made with that money in our economy is forever lost. Moving forward as a country, we want to celebrate not because people have been sent to jail, but because the money is taken back to the hands of Kenyans. The fight against corruption is not just going to be achieved by Members of Parliament (MPs) or the Executive. As a country, we need to revisit our cultures and virtues and totally change them and say no to gratifying thieves. I watched in dismay as those suspects were arrested and driven off in Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) with sirens. We were treating them like heroes as if they had done very well by stealing our public funds. They need to be treated like the criminals they are if found guilty. The Judiciary will play a very vital role in the fight against corruption. For example, we saw a case recently where a former Principal Secretary who sold the Machakos Cemetery for over Kshs.230 million was jailed for only three years. For many Kenyans, if given a choice of stealing Kshs.230million and going to prison for three years, they would choose the jail. On the same note, we saw a lady who was accused of taking a bribe at Huduma Centre of Kshs.2,500 being fined Kshs500,000 - which is 200 times – and three years in prison. There is no equity in the way we are treating the big and small thieves. It seems like the Judiciary is pocketing some of this loot and making sure that the people who steal the most are left scot-free and only - as my colleague has said - the small fish are left to go to jail and pay for what they have done. In the National Youth Service (NYS) scandal, it is alleged that Kshs.9 billion was lost. I serve in the Public Accounts Committee and when we were looking at the Auditor-General’s Report of the 2014/2015 Financial Year, we were dismayed that some of those files have been held by the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) since 2014. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}