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{
    "id": 864277,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/864277/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 435,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orengo",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 129,
        "legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
        "slug": "james-orengo"
    },
    "content": "Yes, there is a story about it. It is said that when his body was found, he was naked. The mafias do not strip people, especially when it is Italian mafia but there is a whole story about it. It is in the same Mediterranean Sea where the late Princess Diana used to go sailing with a tycoon of Egyptian descent but that is another story. Our friend, the former Chief Justice talked about Kenya being a bandit economy and to some extent, pension funds always have bandits waiting to plunder those funds. I am not being abstract. It has happened. If you look at the reports of the Public Accounts Committee in the National Assembly in the past years and the reports on the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) or the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), you will find that a lot of the money that was made by some individuals in this country was made through invasion of these kinds of funds. Right now, there is competition as to whether we should have a private administrator or a fund manager from outside managing this Scheme. It is not in the Bill but previously, there were people who were advocating for that to happen. We had those who were saying that this should be purely in the public domain. I think that the debate is still out there on what is the right thing to do. I am saying all these before I go into the specific provisions of the Bill. For this occasion, I will refer to the Engineer as a learned friend because we are going through this Bill clause by clause. In a country like Kenya, we have to make sure that funds which are generated by the public, whether they are part of the Consolidated Fund, those that go to the National Treasury, a public fund or into a fund like the one being created under this Scheme, are properly protected. There are people out there who are always waiting for this kind of funds or other public funds to make quick bucks. I will dare say that in this country, a lot of the rich people around have raided funds like this be it from the NSSF or the NHIF. Of course, I have no evidence in regards to the two funds which are being amalgamated. If we did a scrutiny of the richest people in this country, you will find that a lot of them have either made money from public institutions or they have done business with public institutions. Therefore, the fight for the control of this Scheme is a fight that would sometimes find itself in this Chamber or this House or even beyond. Most obviously, it is taking place beyond this Chamber. I want to persuade us that Kenya will not grow unless we protect these funds. Other than getting money through tax revenue, investment from foreign countries and direct foreign investment as a component of available cash to spur growth, investment through saving is an important component of a national base for spurring development. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}