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{
    "id": 911684,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/911684/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 624,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13156,
        "legal_name": "Mutula Kilonzo Jnr",
        "slug": "mutula-kilonzo-jnr"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I rise to support this Motion. This matter bothered us in the last Assembly and that is why we came up with the Assumption of the Office of Governor Act, 2019. This Senate had envisioned this problem and we must address it. There are a few terms in Kenya which are the euphemism of corruption. The first one is budget deficit which is the euphemism for corruption in the counties and the national Government. The second one is stalled projects. The third one is pending bills. The one identified by Sen. Kibiru is another euphemism for corruption and we also have own source revenue. On the legal basis, I may not agree with the recommendations given by Sen. Kibiru. This is because every planned project has a budget. Therefore, it is not possible to have a stalled project. In law and in financial terms, a stalled project presupposes that you cannot finance it any further. However, the correct position is that there is no project that any county or national government can start without a budget. How did Machakos County, where Sen. Kabaka was the attorney general, end up with a pending debt of Kshs4 billion and above? How did Nairobi City County have a pending bill of Kshs50 billion? How did that happen? The previous governors who suspected that they were going to lose elections engaged in shady contracts. Can we have a legal provision that will stop capital projects at some point before elections? Before the elections, the counties pending bills were Kshs13 billion but they got to around Kshs70 billion or Kshs80 billion and counting after the elections. What does that tell you? It tells you that the governors who suspected that they would lose their seats went and engaged in shady contracts. We must find a method of dealing with this. The law under the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act requires a new governor to first pay the debt. If God blesses any of us to become a governor, you will be faced with a debt of Kshs5 billion yet you are getting Kshs8 billion. You will end up fighting with contractors as Governor Ngilu is fighting contractors who have done legitimate work. Madam Temporary Speaker, people have lost their houses and families because of pending debts or stalled projects yet for some strange reason, these projects have contracts, completion periods and have been signed. The reason I do not agree with some of the recommendations is because there is no project which is assigned to a governor. If"
}