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{
    "id": 965061,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/965061/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 397,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Mbadi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "realistic budgets. Let us give the agencies realistic budgets within which they can live so that they can adjust their operations, activities and spending. They can cut their clothes according to their sizes. Look at what we have before us, one, we had projected to borrow Kshs635 billion as public debt for the Financial Year 2019/2020. The projected borrowing may go up because already we are cutting the revenue projection. There is also increased expenditure in this Supplementary Budget. Initially it was 80 billion. At least, we have Kshs80 billion. At least, we have tried, as the Budget and Appropriations Committee, to bring it down, but still we must accept that the budget deficit will be higher than Kshs634 billion we had initially. Let me remind this House that having the Supplementary Budget is not a desirable budgeting practice since it reduces credibility of budgets. The Budget process is a process as the name suggests. It starts from September when the Budget Review and Outlook Paper is approved, which tells the whole country how we have performed in the previous financial year and how we are likely to progress. But this goes to the Budget Policy Statement and then comes to budget estimates. This House is not supposed to entertain in-year budget revisions, unless it is on account of what is provided for in the Constitution. The National Treasury should, therefore, ensure that the economic growth numbers are factual and are based on reality, to inform and ensure a credible budget is prepared devoid of in- year revisions. However, it has become a trend that every year we must have two supplementary budgets. In fact, before 2013 we were used to one Supplementary Budget. Now they are two. I think before we know it, this country will start having three supplementary budgets. It has become like a song. You could even hear the Chairman keeping on repeating. I urge my Chairman, Hon. Ichung’wah that he should not even talk about Supplementary Budget II. Let Treasury talk of these bad manners, but let us not, as a House, encourage Supplementary Budget II. Let us assume that it will be the last Supplementary Budget for this year. If anything, we have a few months to the next financial year. Let the Treasury focus now on the 2020/ 2021 Budget. The 2010 Constitution provided a framework for sharing nationally raised resources. Just the other day, we took too many months disagreeing on the Division of Revenue Bill. It should be understood that once we do the sharing of revenue that should be it. Each year we have been sharing resources between the national and county levels of government. This sharing of resources is guided by the principle that resources follow functions. However, we will realise that health and agriculture, which are two devolved functions… If you review the Budget, you will realise that more resources are still being allocated to the Ministries of Health and Agriculture at the national level even more than what used to be allocated before devolution. In 2011/2012, only Kshs64 billion was allocated to the Ministry of Health for both Recurrent and Development expenditures. However, right now the Budget we approved in June has Kshs92.7 billion. If we approve this Supplementary Budget again, it will go up. We have spoken to the CS for Treasury and we will get more and more involved now with this process at the leadership level. I want the Leader of the Majority Party who is also like the Leader of Government Business and me who is expected to lead the Opposition, although there is no Opposition in this Parliament… If the BBI passes, we will now have an Official Leader of the Opposition. We will also have the Leader of Government Business who will be the Prime Minister. Probably, I will be the Prime Minister and Duale will be the Leader of the Official Opposition or vice versa. I hear talk The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}