Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 802395,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/802395/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 205,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. A.B. Duale",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": "Appropriations Committee Chair will be magnanimous. We cannot be the House that makes the Budget and at the same time, be a House that denies our colleagues the little resources that they want. I really want the Chair to listen to the various requests in the speech made by the county women representatives in as far as their fund is concerned. Lastly, there was a concern raised by Hon. Jimmy Angwenyi regarding the reallocation of funds related to ongoing projects in the Estimates. We must finish projects. The Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury cannot have the leeway to leave projects pending in every county and constituency, which all end up becoming white elephants. For a Budget to be credible, it must be technically sound. It must also be faithful to the legal provisions both in the Constitution, the Public Finance Management Act and the Standing Orders. Above all, the Budget must be consultative and must have politically anchored mechanisms to decide on and fund the priorities that the people of Kenya need. The Budget process in Kenya has been reformed over a period of time. I am a very proud Member of Parliament because different countries are now benchmarking on our system since the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 because it is the people who own through their representatives the budget-making process. I am happy to note that the estimates of expenditure and revenue for the 2018/2019 have adhered to various elements of the Budget as contained in the various statutes. These elements relate to the timelines and the comprehensiveness that a budget deserves. On the financing proposals, the Estimates of Revenue tabled in the House gave anticipated deficit for the coming financial year and both the medium term and the proposed source of financing as well as the loans and the guarantees made by the national Government. All these have been provided by the Cabinet Secretary to this Committee. This includes the estimate of the principal interest and other charges to be paid by the national Government. In this financial year, the resolution of the House that we passed, when we passed the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) was that the limit of that deficit should not be more than six per cent for the 2018/2019 and I am sure the National Treasury has confirmed to the Committee and to the House that they will reduce that deficit to a lesser figure. The growth of our economy has been resilient and broad-based but the GDP growth in 2017 slowed down to 4.9 per cent from the 5.9 per cent of 2016. This was occasioned by a number of factors which includes drought, weak credit growth that we found ourselves in, in the financial sector, the pickups in the oil prices globally and the prolonged electioneering period of 2017. This economy according to the National Treasury figures is projected to grow or to recover to 5.9 per cent in 2018/2019 and around seven per cent over the medium term financing. Yesterday, the Chairs of the various committees had an opportunity to contribute after listening to their various stakeholders. I watched my colleagues, and all of them were reading scripts written for them by the Budget Office and their clerks. It is good for Members to internalize what they are being given by the people. It is against the Standing Orders. I only saw the Chair of Departmental Committee on Finance Hon. Limo, who contributed without referring to notes. Notes are meant for reference. It is against the Standing Orders for one to stand and read notes. I think, in the next financial years, we expect Members to read what is given to them by their committee’s technical team and to condense it to a summary and present and give a critique to the House. The other thing I want to urge Chairs of Committees is, you are supposed to oversee the Executive. Please do not come and speak for the Executive. Let us support the Executive when they comply with the law, but we should not just support the Executive when we feel they are 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."
}