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{
    "id": 941593,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/941593/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 509,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Kabaka",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13206,
        "legal_name": "Boniface Mutinda Kabaka",
        "slug": "boniface-mutinda-kabaka-2"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to add my voice with regard to this important debate. Before I start, I wish to go on record that Machakos County will vote ‘No.’ A lot has been said and I do not want to repeat or to be accused of what we call tautology; trying to repeat what other good minded Senators have said. One thing is very clear that borrowing is not bad, but does this country have both the fiscal and monetary discipline to handle this enormous ceiling they are requiring us to approve, the Kshs9 trillion? My answer is no, simply because of the history of corruption in this country. For those who sit with us in the Committee on Finance and Budget, we normally say that money is stolen at the time of doing the budget. This is the fear of those Senators who are voting ‘No.” We may be few, but the truth will be told. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not know why this Government is allergic to legal controls or checks and balances. If I may borrow some semblance of what happened in body corporates or companies, we do know that under the Companies Law and other related laws, directors do borrow whenever they want to undertake some projects. However, there are always some austerity measures that they must follow because this is business. That is why typically or similarly, the Government which is also managed in the same way as a body corporate, should be guided by prudential guidelines, or what we call in banking semblance, Basel I and II. There is no way we will have borrowing that is a match to legal controls. They must be controlled by the laws of the land. Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, I have also looked at the schedule of the projects which the Acting Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Planning has given. I found that there are no new projects for Machakos County. Most of the projects which I know have stalled for absolutely no reason. I think it is because of lack of adequate provisions of funds to do the projects. I do not know what I would tell the people of Machakos if I would blindly support this Motion; if at all we are not going to see a cost benefit analysis of it. I need to interrogate further. That is why I am saying that even if this debate has gone for almost one and a half hours, it should not end today. Parties should not vote today. This debate should continue even tomorrow or for the whole of this week, so that Kenyans will know the problem with the National Treasury. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I sit down, I wish to say that majority of the Members from the side where I am seated are voting no because like most people have said here,"
}