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{
    "id": 900411,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/900411/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 323,
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    "content": "businesses. That is what Hon. Kuria is trying to resolve so that the Government is clear that once somebody has delivered on a contract, you have either 90 days to pay him and if it is among the disadvantaged groups; what Hon. Duale is proposing is that we should make it 60 days. Hon. Kuria, it is important that you consider that proposal for 60 days. It will help the economy. That may be too short. On the other side of the coin – this is what is critical for me - there are two things that will happen. One, what this amendment is doing is that immediately after the 30 or 90 days, you start paying interest. That implies that all the pending debts will be converted to domestic debts. That will have a serious impact on the public debt in this country. We are already grappling with the issue of public debt. So, even as we think about this amendment, it has a serious implication to the economy. Two, it says, even if we pass this amendment, it will be a requirement for the national Government and the county governments to operate the way the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) operates that, by the time you procure, you must have money in the account. That needs to be analysed. If you do not have money in the account, then people who are procuring services will be hesitant to procure because 90 days may lapse and it becomes a public debt. So, the Treasury is between a rock and a hard place. Generally, as an economist, those are things Hon. Kuria needs to help us. At the end of the day, this Bill will affect the economy and Kenyans. We will need to seriously think about how to navigate around those issues. Before I take my seat, the other important thing is the issue of - Hon. Kuria, I am pleading with you – the part on other disadvantaged groups. Please, let us avoid it because it will open doors for abuse. You can, therefore, be specific as in women, youth and persons with disability and you close it so that it is closed. You cannot give the procuring entity a chance to start debating who these disadvantaged persons are. That will help this amendment. Generally, it is a good amendment."
}