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{
"id": 841558,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/841558/?format=api",
"text_counter": 474,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13165,
"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
"slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
},
"content": "know, as their legislators, where we stand. In all the WhatsApp groups that I am in, all I can see Kenyans doing this afternoon – and I even wonder if they are working –is they are questioning how their Member of Parliament (MP) will vote on those particular issues. Is he with us, the true bosses, or has he gone to a parliamentary group somewhere and has been told to vote in a particular way without being told what is the motivation of voting in that particular way? Madam Temporary Speaker, Parliament is a representation of the people. There is nothing that is more supreme than a gathering of the representatives of the people. I do not understand properly the architecture why it was made so difficult that whenever Parliament has asserted itself on a particular matter and the President returns a Memorandum, it is again made extremely difficult for the same MPs who spoke about it to overturn the same veto. Of course, there are pros and cons for this particular debate. It is something that we may want to consider in future. How I wish that, as a country, we can have a sober discussion about the public debt, where we have reached with it and what we need to do. It is important to note that Kenyans are continuing to give us suggestions, saying that the time has come. Madam Temporary Speaker, Kenya has 19 million voters, but only four million taxpayers; and that is where the problem begins. This is because you have people who elect leaders into office, but then they leave them with no tools to work. They sent here to work. They told them: “Please go and consider our issues;” and that is where it ends. The biggest problem in this country is the fact that, on a daily basis, millions of young people are waking up and they have absolutely nothing to do; yet, the mandarins in the national Treasury do not heed to the cries of those of us who have been crying for a long time. We have been crying that the only austerity measures that will make sense for an economy like Kenya is that which will put young people to work; consideration of what it is that we can do to ensure that small light industries are being lit up in our counties so that every young person can wake up and report somewhere; and that is the only way they will pay taxes. The reason why the rest of the country is up in arms is because it is only four million Kenyans who are supporting the other 46 million. Therefore, they are bound to feel the fatigue. However, if everyone was generously contributing and they had something to do, such that they are paying Pay as You Earn (PAYE) and the rest of the taxes, we would then be so proud and know that we are building a country. Madam Temporary Speaker, as things stand today, it is incumbent upon us, first as leaders and secondly as citizens of this country, to have a general discussion. We should question whether the path we have taken in terms of our public debt is sustainable. Does it make economic sense? I see very many discussions on issues; and some are informed by very good logic, but unfortunately, a majority of it is misled. For example, when people suggest that one of the easiest things to do to try and curb the public wage bill and the cost of running the Government is to reduce the size of Parliament, are they aware that Parliament, as an institution despite being one of the three arms of Government, consumes only 0.8 per cent – not even 1 per cent – of the budget of the Republic? Therefore, people are making uninformed arguments by proposing that if you reduce the size of the Legislature, you will have contained the public wage bill---"
}