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{
    "id": 974411,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/974411/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 298,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13219,
        "legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
        "slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
    },
    "content": "Parliament flatly rejected that initiative on the pretext that it was going to open up a witch-hunt and that hard working Kenyans will have their assets seized by the State because of political differences. However, we all know that even without this Lifestyle Audit Act in place, we have seen initiatives by the DCI, EACC and the KRA where people are put to task to explain how they amassed wealth that cannot match their known income. I know that there are cases reported, which have gone to court where even traffic policemen have become millionaires. There are people who are in this House who cannot match the wealth that has been amassed by some people who earn less than Kshs40,000 in this county. Their balances in their accounts do not marry with what they earn. I remember one case where a policeman had a balance in his account in excess of Kshs40 million. You all know the case that went all the way to the Court of Appeal, where an accountant who was earning Kshs120,000 had assets well over Kshs200 million and in his account he had Kshs32 million. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a law that is supposed to discourage public officers or people who serve in public service from misusing the privileged that has been given to them to serve the public. It also meant to discourage them from using their privileged positions to steal money that is meant to offer services to our people. Even if we have any reservations on some of the clauses in this Bill like what has been raised by my good friend, Sen. (Prof.) Ongeri, these are things that we can look at and clean-up in this Bill. However, by and large, this Bill has very good intentions. We want to discourage people who have been privileged to be given an opportunity to serve the people, not to use that opportunity to steal from the people that they are supposed to serve. I know governors in this country who the only thing we can remember them for is the mansions they built once they were elected. There are counties in this country where hospitals have never been built by governors. We have counties in this country where hospitals have no medicine. We also have counties where even money that is meant to assist our women to deliver free has been diverted into people’s pockets. These particular people end up using this money to amass wealth for themselves. It is something that we, as leaders, should not encourage. The only way to discourage it is for us to put in place legal mechanisms that will enable the State to repossess those assets back to the State. I hope that once this Bill is enacted and becomes an Act of Parliament, we can repossess some of these houses that have been built through public funds and convert them into hospitals. Let us put Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines in those hospitals so that we make it so painful that it does not pay to steal public money. We can even borrow from what the DPP is doing; there is a fund where banks that assist public servants or people who are doing business with the Government to launder money--- the banks are meant to pay, there is a fine. I hope that we can come up with a health support fund so that the assets that are recovered from the people who have stolen public funds can be used for the benefit of the health of our people. This is because there is a big challenge in this country on provision of healthcare. There are no medicines in our hospitals. People cannot afford to be treated 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."
}