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{
"id": 1431421,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1431421/?format=api",
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"speaker": null,
"content": "In Naivasha where there was a landslide, the affected families cannot go back to their previous homespun. It behoves the Government to assist its people in those kinds of situations. That is why in consultation with the Executive, we have made provision of money to be used for the resettlement of the people who were affected by the floods and the excessive rains so that they can get comfort by not being resettled back in areas that are impossible to live in. Kenya practice agriculture that is rain-fed. That means that our livestock get the adequate food that is sufficient to produce more milk and thus, we usually have a glut. That is the reason we have given the New Kenya Co-operative Creameries some resources for mopping-up of milk during this time of overproduction. We have given it money in two ways: One, for mopping-out the excess raw milk and two, for modernisation of its factories so that it can start producing powdered milk effectively, and in a manner that is cost-effective. The current machinery and technology that they have and deploy in terms of making powdered milk, is not efficient. It, therefore, ends up producing milk that becomes uncompetitive comparative to other milk producing countries. We have done that because we know that we need to support our farmers who deal with milk, sugar, coffee and tea farmers as reflected in the estimates. Many times, people confuse Parliament with Members of Parliament. Parliament is an institution and the cornerstone of democracy. In terms of the rule of law of a modern State, the rule of law and democracy is important. An efficient bureaucracy is also important. Looking at Parliament, there have been arrears for the drivers and bodyguards who work in Parliament. From the month of January, they have not been paid. I want to confirm that we have put in enough resources to pay them. In that respect, I request the National Treasury to expedite releasing the Ex-chequer that we have added for the arrears of the bodyguards and drivers. These are people who have needs and families to take care of, thus the more the reason to be paid. Just like any other civil servant, we have put-in the arrears for the bodyguards and drivers so that they can get their dues in order to go about their business in an efficient manner. Having made those points, I beg to move and request the Leader of the Majority Party to second."
},
{
"id": 1431422,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1431422/?format=api",
"text_counter": 3778,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Allow me to first thank the Chairman and the Members of the Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations and all the chairpersons for the very good work they have done over the working recess. Some of us had time to retreat to our constituencies, but many of our departmental committee Members, their chairpersons, Members of the Budget and Appropriations Committee and the Departmental Committee on Finance and Planning have had a very busy working recess as they considered both the Supplementary Budget, the annual estimates and the ongoing Finance Bill engagements over the recess period. I take this opportunity to thank them for the great work that they have done. As I second, I re-emphasise the need for the National Treasury to ensure that this Supplementary Budget as we have emphasised before is passed. Hon. John Mbadi, who is a ranking Member of the Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations will tell you that over the years, this House has called on the National Treasury to limit the Supplementary Budgets to at least one, within a financial year. This is so that whatever you plan from your Budget Policy Statement (BPS) right to the annual estimates will only be revised once. Otherwise, the business of having to do budgetary revisions twice or thrice in a year is not a very good budgetary practice. It speaks volumes to the level of preparedness that we have when we are preparing our budgets. In a way, it creates uncertainty with the implementing agencies in Government as to whether you will have adequate resources to implement all the programmes The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1431423,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1431423/?format=api",
"text_counter": 3779,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "that have been budgeted for you within a certain financial year, since you do not know whether the said money is subject to review. Appreciating the challenges that we have had with liquidity or the raising of revenues in the country, it is only fair that the National Treasury and those who are planning do so with a lot of prudence to ensure that the revenues we project are as realistic as possible and as close to what the reality is as possible. We must also call on the Kenya Revenue Authority to pull up their socks to make sure that we are collecting adequate revenues to ensure that we do not keep revising our budgets through these supplementary budgets. I, however, note some good progress. As Members, we have spoken at length about how transparent our budgeting process is. I must commend the Budget and Appropriations Committee because this time round they have been very transparent in attaching the Schedules from Page 757 all the way from the First to the Fourth Schedule, including the changes that have been made. This is very good because it allows Members to interrogate the changes that have been made by the Budget and Appropriations Committee. This is so that we avoid the temptation that I have always seen over the years of blaming the Budget and Appropriations Committee Members that they have reallocated money without the knowledge of the House. I have also seen Members accusing each other, and I am part of the Members who have been on the receiving end. The other day, I saw the Member for Yatta Constituency ignorantly speaking on television claiming that money that had been allocated to Kiambu County was diverted to Kikuyu Constituency, and I wondered. This is a Member who sits in this House, budgets and appropriates, and is always in this House. Where was he when that money was being reallocated? It is not possible for one Member of this House to reallocate resources from one constituency to another. These changes are usually in these Schedules. I thank the Chairman of the Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations because of the disclosures that he is making, so that even as we speak on television stations, we do not exhibit our ignorance of the budgeting process. It is good that every new Member of Parliament is taken through the budgeting process of this House. From the Schedules, I was looking at the induction of this House, and we had at least three-and-a-half hours of the induction programme. I encourage the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee to keep educating Members. Speak and engage them on the budgeting process, even through committees, so that we speak out there from a point of knowledge. This is not just by riding on things circulated on social media or mentioning other people’s names thinking that that will give you popularity in your village. I saw the Member for Yatta mentioning my name on television. I forgive him because I know he has to mention my name to remain relevant to his people. I will move on to these Schedules. The Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee has mentioned a number of critical changes and issues touching on Article 223. Again, we indicated and it has been the position of this House that Article 223 is only for emergency cases. Article 223 is not used to allocate money to the Office of the Leader of the Majority Party for tea. That is not an emergency. With the emergency of flooding we have faced as a country, it is good more resources are going towards mitigation of the issues right from the money paid to people being moved from riparian reserves within the city and in other areas where people have been asked to move away from rivers and those prone to floods and other dangers. Money has been put to ensure that these people are well compensated. I am glad and I must thank the Ministry of Interior and National Administration that, for the first time, even as we have seen houses demolished in Nairobi, all the people who are The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1431424,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1431424/?format=api",
"text_counter": 3780,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "living there have been compensated. I saw a statement from the Ministry confirming it to ensure they relocate and move away from areas that would subject them to dangers of flooding and all the issues we see with climate change. This is the way to go. You do not just tell people to move out and they do not know where to go to. The small stipend of Ksh10,000 that the people are receiving is helping them to move to new houses because most of them are tenants."
},
{
"id": 1431425,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1431425/?format=api",
"text_counter": 3781,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "I take this opportunity to appeal to all our private developers that riparian reserves are 30 metres from the river. Please, let us not encroach on our rivers and riparian reserves. When these demolitions come, you also lose as much as many of them may have been warned before. I asked the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, and he has promised that they will allocate money within the next budgeting cycle to ensure that the areas where they are demolishing houses are not re-encroached. They should fence them off, plant trees and the areas remain riparian reserves. As we have been told, we will receive higher than normal rainfall over the next seven years. Therefore, some of these measures are indeed to guard against some of the dangers we have seen."
},
{
"id": 1431426,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1431426/?format=api",
"text_counter": 3782,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "I have also seen changes in the State Department for Higher Education and Research. I have a particular concern. If you go to the Schedules, a charge of Ksh250 million is going to the Open University of Kenya on recurrent expenditure. I have been informed that is very well justified. There is, however, an increase of Ksh250 million of the Government of Kenya's sponsorship to students in private universities that I completely disagree with. I was just engaging with the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Education and Research to see indication. We have changed the funding model of university students and how they are sponsored through the Government. There was an increase in the annual estimates of Ksh150 million which was reasonably considered by the Departmental Committee on Education and Research, and agreed. I see the Budget and Appropriations Committee has had another increment from Ksh250 million to a total of Ksh400 million. Therefore, we will be engaging with the Chairmen of the Budget and Appropriations Committee and Departmental Committee on Education and Research so that we can make the requisite changes as we move to the Committee of Supply tomorrow. Many of our public universities are in dire need. This is whether it is Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, South Eastern Kenya University, Tharaka University, Chuka University, or Meru University of Science and Technology. All our public universities are in dire need of resources. I know many of them engaged in very ambitious development projects, many of which have stalled. As a House, we must also ensure that we put our resources to items that follow the policy set out by the Government. If the Government’s policy is to move to a new funding system, resources must then be moving towards that and not away from it. We will be engaging on that."
},
{
"id": 1431427,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1431427/?format=api",
"text_counter": 3783,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "There are minor changes in a bit of development expenditures because of absorption. We are probably about three or four weeks before the systems are closed for the new financial year. I hope the National Treasury will also move with speed to ensure Ex-chequer releases are done in time for the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to absorb, especially the development expenditure that is being released at this time."
},
{
"id": 1431428,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1431428/?format=api",
"text_counter": 3784,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Finally, I know there are issues to do with Appropriations-in-Aid in our MDAs. I was hoping that we would also see a good review, this being the last Supplementary Budget. Let me also take note that the changes that came with the centralised collection of Appropriations- in-Aid, through the eCitizen platform, have in a huge way helped the Government in making sure that all of it is properly accounted for. I encourage the Government and the National Treasury to ensure that there is seamless engagement between the National Treasury and all our MDAs. This will ensure transactions have seamless connectivity from their MDAs to the National Treasury. That ensures every coin raised by MDAs is accounted for. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1431429,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1431429/?format=api",
"text_counter": 3785,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "We have seen in the past that supplementary budgets every year have been used by MDAs for a last-minute dash towards procurement. People hide their Appropriations-in-Aid and then move to ensure they are rushing to procure goods and services this last month of the financial year. From experience and those who have been here long enough, especially those who have served in the Public Accounts Committee and the Public Investments Committee, most corruption issues in the Government emanate from things done either towards the end of a financial year or in the run-up to a general election. That is where you will find most corruption cases in the Government and MDAs. I hope the new centralised system of accounting for Appropriations-in-Aid through the eCitizen platform will go a long way in ensuring we curb a vice that has bedeviled our country for long. In the interest of time, let me not say much more. Finally, again, I thank the Budget and Appropriations Committee, and all our chairmen together with the Members of this House who are serving in the Departmental Committee. I know it was not easy for many of them to leave their constituencies during recess to consider the Supplementary Budget together with the Annual Estimates. This morning, we moved procedural motions to allow us time to engage on this Supplementary Budget and the Division of Revenue Bill as mediated on. I know the County Allocation of Revenue Bill is also coming. There is also the Equalisation Fund Appropriation Report from the Senate and the Annual Estimates. We hope we will have finalised and finished to allow the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning to come and make his statement next week on Thursday, as was communicated by the Office of the Speaker yesterday afternoon. Moving forward and next financial year, once we are done with Annual Estimates, I request the National Treasury to let us minimise our Supplementary Budgets to at least one in a year."
},
{
"id": 1431430,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1431430/?format=api",
"text_counter": 3786,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
"speaker": null,
"content": "With those many remarks, Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to second."
}
]
}