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{
    "id": 91234,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/91234/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 204,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Musila",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister, Ministry of State for Defence",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 94,
        "legal_name": "David Musila",
        "slug": "david-musila"
    },
    "content": " Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am humbled to have been requested to second this Motion. I, therefore, wish to confirm that I support it. Vote 03 - Ministry of State for Public Service is seconded by me. The public service is the engine of any Government. The success of any Government depends on the ability of the Public Service to deliver services. Let me therefore, emphasize that when we stand and praise the work done by the Government, we are not doing it for the sake of it. I for one would call a spade a spade. While seconding this Motion, I support and congratulate the Ministry of State for Public Service for the work they have done. I want to thank all public servants wherever they are for how far they have taken this country since Independence; 47 years ago. It is through these officers that we have been able to achieve whatever we have achieved. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to commend the Minister and the able Assistant Minister for the work that they have done. I am glad that the Permanent Secretary and the Director of Personnel Management are here and can hear as we congratulate the staff who have given so much service to this nation. Having said that, I have two concerns that I would like the Assistant Minister and his staff to listen to very carefully. First, we have lived through the Public Service. Some of us served the Public Service for over 30 years and we can attest to how things have gone. I think right now, there is change of attitude for the worst in the public service. Many public officers, particularly the senior most like Permanent Secretaries and so on, have attitudes that are not going to take this country very far unless they are checked. Correspondence is not attended to. Members of this House will tell you that they write letters to Permanent Secretaries and they are never acknowledged, even after writing to them by name. Members of this House will tell you that even when they call Permanent Secretaries and other senior officers they never bother to return their calls. I am speaking this because I have heard what Members say. Even for an Assistant Minister like me, you can write, write and call but you will not get a response. However, I am not saying it is the whole public service. You can probably count those who do not do that with one hand. Those who are not delivering service as they should are not more than five. Some of them do not even respect elected leaders. I think this is a pity. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the other issue that concerns me most is the issue of pensions which the Assistant Minister has talked about. As you are aware during the Ninth Parliament, we passed an amendment to the Pensions Act which I sponsored. To date, nothing is followed. Section 16(a) of that Act reads:- “A person to whom a pension or other allowances are payable under this Act shall be entitled to be retained in the service until payment in full of the gratuity or pension” Today, people retire and go home, wait for years and some even die before they get their pensions. We wonder why this should be happening 47 years after Independence. More serious is, if an officer dies in service, it takes many years before the relatives or next of kin are paid their dues. This same law, in Section 19(a) which this House amended, said that dues must be paid within 90 days, failure of which interest accrues. This does not happen. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I would like to urge the Permanent Secretary to enforce this law which was passed by this House. Finally, on Friday this week, we are going to witness the birth of a new Republic through the promulgation of a new Constitution that Kenyans overwhelmingly approved. I urge the Public Service in this country to be born again along with the new Republic so that we start afresh and push this country to higher levels. We cannot afford to let our country down. With those few words, I beg to second."
}