Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 801299,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/801299/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 211,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ogolla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1264,
        "legal_name": "Gideon Ochanda Ogolla",
        "slug": "gideon-ochanda-ogolla"
    },
    "content": "of is that none of the Addresses have ever missed touching on issues of what the President is planning on doing in the area of corruption. This has never missed in any of those Addresses from time to time. This was mentioned again this time round. If you look at the history, every single time this is done, the figures in terms of the funds that are lost keep rising. It means that even this time round, in as much as there was this Speech that number is still on the rise. What is missing in a big way is the issue of action being taken. Last time, the President brought a list from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) of people who should be prosecuted. That was the last time that list was seen. We believe that is what is happening. Even right now, we have had the issue of procurement officers in the history of this country. Towards the end of the 1990s and the beginning of 2000, there was a big reshuffle of procurement officers in the whole country. Some were moved and some lost their jobs but they were taken through various transfers. We have seen this. The repercussions in terms of the end result of that is that we have just been seeing a lot of funds being lost. Something must be done beyond that. There is the issue of the Big Four Agenda. It is critical, good and an indicator that we want to go somewhere. The most critical thing about the Agenda is what to do. The means of how to do it is another matter. Those agendas are listed. There is the issue of food security. There is a Budget Report in front of us today from the Committee. If you try to match those agendas against resources allocated, a lot is left to be desired. You will realise that agriculture did not get much. Industrialization and microfinance sectors are big losers. What are we talking about? Sometimes one has to look at these things very critically in terms of which direction we want to go with them. There is the issue of reconciliation and inclusivity. We have not looked at the cause. We are looking at it in terms of two or so great gentlemen coming together and saying that we can heal the nation based on that. We are glossing over the real issues. The real issue is: What brought us to that level? It is the issue of elections. What are we doing to fix elections? Elections are a big problem in this country. As we keep glossing over it and focusing on the leaders coming together and hugging - which is good for the nation - we are not fixing the issue of elections. This country will face two critical things in the next two or so years. We will hold a census and re-organise constituencies legally, which is critical. We are also talking about the referendum. There are also issues of inequality. Currently, Siaya County is only getting 17 out of the 8,000 teachers that will be recruited in the whole county. If we do not address issues of how to fix elections and how to fix inequality in terms of resource distribution, the issues of reconciliation and inclusivity will be off our mark. We are burying our heads in the sand and forgetting that there are bigger things that we are supposed to be…"
}