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{
    "id": 975549,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/975549/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 317,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kipipiri, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Amos Kimunya",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 174,
        "legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
        "slug": "amos-kimunya"
    },
    "content": "Right now, we were being given a proposal and I am glad the House has refused it. We were being told to reduce budgets of Parliament and the Judiciary by Kshs1 billion. This means the outputs which the Judiciary was supposed to give and what Parliament was supposed to achieve this year would be reduced by Kshs1 billion. So, our sittings would have to be reduced or the Judiciary would not hear cases beyond a certain period. This is because people are planning without necessary looking at the correlation between inputs and outputs, but purely on absolute numbers. They can say they want Parliament to approve “a”, “b”, “c” and “d”. We approve it and come up with a Supplementary Budget. But before it is done, we come up with a Supplementary Budget because people are looking at numbers rather than planning. The BPS is supposed to address strategies to take us there. I did not say the BBI, but the BPS. We also recognise that we are operating under very difficult economic circumstances. It is under these circumstances that people need to refocus on what they need to do. We have put a lot of focus on the Big Four Agenda. For housing, how much has it absorbed in the last two years and how many units have been created? Has the fund that we passed in this House ever been operationalised because there are court cases? Is it still realistic for us to achieve those targets yet we continue to pump money into this? We had a target of cranking up manufacturing to contribute 15 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Looking at the statistics, we are on a downward slope. Right now, we are under 8 per cent. It is not going up, but down. What magic between now and the next two years will we apply so that we can leapfrog in terms of achieving the targets for manufacturing? It is only when we achieve this that we will generate revenue to create jobs and sustain the economy within our targets. It is at this point that we need to go back and reflect whether we are doing things the right way or the same way and expecting different results. I want to urge the National Treasury to relook at some of these things. In as much as there is no law requiring them to resubmit a revised BPS, let them take advantage of this situation. They should redo the BPS and reflect the current reality that we have shortages and our revenue is not going up, but down. The COVID-19 was not there at the point of doing the BPS and it is now a reality. The global economy has shrunk and obviously Kenya will be affected. We are not an isolated part of the world. What are the impacts of this that need to be factored in, so that we can plan based on what we can realistically achieve? The National Treasury is committed to fiscal consolidation and we all support this. But the method they are using is reducing spending by Kshs200 billion because we cannot afford. But how does this impact the private sector? The aggregate demand has been reduced by Kshs200 billion. So, if the private sector was intending to supply the Government with goods and services, it will supply less Kshs200 billion. This means the people required to produce will be reduced and even profits reduced. This will have a knock-on effect on the taxes. What will we do given the reduction in Government spending and extra taxes that will reduce the disposal income of those firms, so that businesses are encouraged to continue 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."
}