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{
    "id": 975566,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/975566/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 334,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kiminini, FORD-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Chris Wamalwa",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1889,
        "legal_name": "Chrisantus Wamalwa Wakhungu",
        "slug": "chrisantus-wamalwa-wakhungu"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the BPS. It is very unfortunate that for the time I have been in Parliament, we have never had any report of the previous BPS. We know that the BPS plays a critical role because it gives an overall direction on how the Government is going to spend its money. There must be consistency between the BPS and the Budget Estimates. It is unfortunate that in previous years, we have seen some disconnect. It is true that as we move forward, we need a clear monitoring and evaluation framework because we have never had any. Every time the National Treasury brings us the BPS, there is no way we can connect from the previous BPS for purposes of continuity. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I do not want to repeat what my colleagues had said but the most important thing is that in this country, we have been told that our economy is growing at more than 5 per cent but there is no trickle-down effect. Businesses are closing down. When you go out there, you will see so many shops available for renting – a clear sign that businesses have collapsed. If you look at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) projections, we do not achieve them. So, we must put a conducive environment to ensure that businesses and SMEs thrive. When SMEs thrive, we are going to have employment for the youth. I salute what my friend, Hon. Amos Kimunya, said. He said that in this country, even after removing the bank interest capping, you cannot access credit. During the Kibaki regime, the percentage at which the GDP was growing was about 7 per cent. Hon. Amos Kimunya is here. He was the Minister in charge then. I happen to have attended the Pre-Budget Conference and I liked his ideas. He talked about the cash ratio. These are some of the things we can borrow. Nobody has monopoly of knowledge. Unless SMEs can access credit, businesses will continue to close down. Hon. Deputy Speaker, talking about the issue of pending bills, I keep wondering if money was originally sent to the counties, how comes every year we have issues of pending bills? This was part of the teething problems in the first county governments. When the money was given, maybe some of the supplies were not audited properly. As one Member had said, it is borrowing from the public. So, the issue of liquidity in the country is not there. Many of the SMEs are borrowing money from commercial banks. Pending bills are being paid after two or three years. That is why some businesses are being auctioned. If they are being auctioned, what happens? The people they have offered employment lose their employment. We have talked about the 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."
}