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{
    "id": 900058,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/900058/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 394,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tongaren, FORD –K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Eseli Simiyu",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 141,
        "legal_name": "David Eseli Simiyu",
        "slug": "david-eseli"
    },
    "content": "As I start my contribution, I would like to quote a few things. One, leadership without integrity is hollow. Wealth without work is theft and that is where Kenya is at the moment. As a nation and community, we have condoned theft, including theft of public funds. We condone it and clap for those who steal. As a nation, our problem is that we did not grow out of the colonial era where it was justified for us to plunder Government resources because they belonged to our colonisers and oppressors. It was a way of resisting our oppressors by plundering their wealth. We gained Independence later and we did not realise that those resources belong to us and are our taxes. Those are the taxes of the mama mboga, boda boda riders and everybody because every Kenyan pays taxes either directly or indirectly. We did not realise that. So, we have continued to plunder Government resources without realising that we are actually plundering our resources. At the end of the day, we will remain with nothing to plunder. That is a mentality that needs to be changed among Kenyans, so that they recognise that we rely on public resources to build hospitals, pay workers’ salaries, put drugs in hospitals and build our roads. We need a change of mind-set as Kenyans. We must realise that we must protect and utilise public resources properly so that they are useful to the rest of Kenyans. The kind of money we talk about, if you were to go to villages and told them that our Budget is over Kshs2 trillion, they will ask what kind of figure that is. Those of us who have lived through the Moi and Kenyatta era, the Budget had not surpassed Kshs300 billion when Moi left office. We were not talking about trillions. I do not know whether people know what a trillion means. If we put that money to proper use with proper accountability, I am sure we will transform this country. The leaders talk about transformational leadership. Let us manage our resources properly. How do we do that?"
}