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{
"id": 965489,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/965489/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orengo",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 129,
"legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
"slug": "james-orengo"
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"content": "Coming to the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, I am really hoping that the Senate, at one point or another – and I think I will probably take the responsibility, on my part – needs to look at this Act very carefully. This is where counties and procuring entities fail us. Together with it, juxtapose the Public Finance Management Act and amend them together. This is because if you amend one without looking at the other, you are at cross purposes, and then the budgeting process that you would find provisions in the Constitution--- The County Governments Act also has some provisions which relate to budgeting and procurement plans. All these should be read together and brought into harmony. Madam Temporary Speaker, I see that there are some provisions here which may be positive. For example, the provisions on Page 426, which substantively relate to Section 41 of the substantive Statute; the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015. It is desired to amend Section 43, which gives certain powers, with the authority of a magistrate, to enter into any premises subject matter of investigations. Those are probably pointing in the right direction. That is because I think all of us know that if you go to any town or market in this country, and you find a very big building coming up; most likely it is by somebody from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), somebody doing business with KRA, or somebody involved in procurement; and so on, and so forth. Therefore, there is a lot of mischief that happens in tendering and tax issues, et cetera . Madam Temporary Speaker, looking at these provisions and the little deletions and insertions that follow, it is important--- I am a Member of the Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights, and I am asking Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr. and Sen. Kihika that we should go back to the Committee and look at these provisions to deal with public procurement. In fact, Madam Temporary Speaker, when you are targeted by the system, there are laws around procurement and the Public Finance Management Act, where anything you do or do not do can constitute an offence, even if you are a private citizen. Therefore, somebody who has been in the criminal courts, like Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., should guide us in this process in the Committee. We should then ensure that we do not make laws that eventually actually kill investments instead of promoting them. We are all the time saying that the Government should get out of business, but in the process, through over regulation and excessive interventions by public bodies and authorities, doing business in Kenya sometimes becomes extremely difficult. Decision making is also extremely difficult, and it takes a long time. This is because of these many regulations and laws that sometimes are very difficult to interpret for an ordinary person, sitting behind a desk to carry out responsibilities that involve legislation. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}