Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion:-

THAT, this House adopts the Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Government of Kenya Accounts for the year 2005/2006 laid on the Table of the House today, 17th June, 2009.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion to the Ministry of Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands:-

THAT, aware that northern Kenya and other arid lands face perennial drought of a cyclic nature; mindful that this occasions severe negative economic, social and environmental effects; noting that currently responses to drought are reactive due to lack of proactive measures; concerned that the country lacks a legal framework designed to mitigate these problems; this House urges the Government to establish a Drought Management Authority responsible for drought preparedness and response, including forecasting, impact assessment and management policy, drought preparedness and mitigation.

Is Mr. Baiya not here? Let us move on to the next Question.

asked the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security:- (a) why Mr. Lekula Lesudo (P/No.180239) has not received his retirement benefits since he retired on 19th February, 1980; and, (b) when the payment will be made.

Minister of State for Provincial Administration?

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Assistant Minister for Provincial Administration, Mr. Lesrima is on the way. I would request that we wait for him to come and answer this Question.

We will come back to that Question.

Next Question, Dr. Otichilo.

asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government:- (a) when he will complete the construction of Luanda Town bus park which was initiated by the Government; and, (b) if he could assure the House that he has allocated money for the completion of the bus park during the 2009/2010 financial year and that he will order the demolition of the illegal stalls opposite the bus park.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government? We will come back to this Question later

Next Question, Mr. Kiuna.

asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government what steps the Ministry is taking to enforce the marketing standards for agricultural produce, particularly packaging regulations of 2005 in all council markets with regard to potatoes.

It touches on the same Minister.

Let us move on to Question No.064.

Is Dr. Kones not here. Let us move on to the next Question.

Is Mr. Lessonet not here? Let us move back to Question 204.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, before I ask my Question, I would like to apologise for being late.

asked the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security:- (a) under which circumstances police arrested and detained motor vehicles which were delivering fresh milk to the factory in Githunguri on 21st May, 2009; and, (b) what action he will take to compensate the Githunguri milk farmers for the loss and ensure that such incidents are avoided in future.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I beg to respond. (a) On 21st May, 2009, police officers at Githunguri Police Station area were conducting a crackdown on motor vehicles suspected to be unroadworthy in contravention of the provisions of the Traffic Act. The crackdown, was led by gazzeted motor vehicle inspectors. During the crackdown several motor vehicles were briefly detained and inspected, amongst them the following motor vehicles: KAU 192P – Mitsubishi lorry driven by Joseph Kimani; KAU 193P – Mitsubishi lorry driven by Samson Njoroge. (b)The motor vehicles were inspected on the spot after the owners refused police escort to deliver the milk before inspection. They were both found defective. The reports of the inspection

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to thank the Assistant Minister for the effort to answer this Question. However, he has given a wrong answer to evade the issue at hand. The vehicles in question belong to the Githunguri Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society. They were collecting and delivering milk to the Plant. The police arrested the first vehicle at 6.00 a.m. and it was released at 11.00 a.m. on my personal intervention. Is it in order for the Assistant Minister to mislead this House that the police were doing this in pursuit of the law when they arrested and detained vehicles carrying fresh perishable produce? They also refused to release them until I intervened. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the charges were tramped up. The Assistant Minister does not have the information that one of the vehicles that had been arrested; a

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I totally disagree with the hon. Member. When the crackdown on un-roadworthy vehicles was being done by the police, the police officers requested the drivers to be escorted all the way to the Plant but they declined. That is the report I got. After refusing, the police officers insisted that they had to check those vehicles. That is why I have tabled the charge sheet for the Questioner to go through. That is what happened. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, when the drivers refused to be escorted to the Plant, the police officer could not do anything but to inspect the vehicles and charge them for using un- roadworthy vehicles. If, in any case there is---

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I have just explained to the Assistant Minister that I personally went there and asked the police officers why they were detaining vehicles that were carrying milk. The senior managers of the cooperative were also there pleading with the police to release the vehicles. Is it in order for the Assistant Minister to insist that the drivers refused, when their seniors were also there and they eventually escorted the milk?

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Questioner is a lawmaker in this House. You cannot go to police officers and ask them to release un-roadworthy vehicles simply because you are a lawmaker. In fact, he is the one who should have insisted that these vehicles were un-roadworthy and should be taken for inspection and the drivers charged. Is he in order?

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we all know that when the traffic police go on the rampage, even a brand new vehicle from the showroom will be found defective. Could the Assistant Minister explain if indeed it is right that---

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. Is it in order for the hon. Member to say that our police officers go on the rampage? I think that is unparliamentary language.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I do not believe the word “rampage” is unparliamentary language. I can even give you further information that they indeed go on the rampage. In case the Assistant Minister is not aware that they go on the rampage, let him stop being an Assistant Minister. He will find out what “rampage” means from the police.

Dr. Eseli, I do not want to find you out of order! Can you ask your question?

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. Is it in order for the hon. Member to universally accuse all police officers by saying that, “we all know when they go on rampage”? Could he withdraw and apologise?

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker.

You are out of order! He is responding to a point of order. Dr. Eseli, please, continue!

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I think the Assistant Minister is taking this issue out of context. I am sure he has experienced the rampage I am talking about.

First of all, I would want to correct the notion that police officers go on rampage. The law requires the police to do a crackdown on un-roadworthy vehicles---

Mr. Assistant Minister, there is a clarification on another vehicle, can you clarify that?

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am coming to that. The fact that a vehicle has a new registration number does not necessarily mean that it is not defective. So do not look at the registration number. The fact that a vehicle has got a new registration number plate does not mean that it is not defective. There are many vehicles with new registration which are defective.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, could you protect me from the hon. Members so that I can reply to this question?

Let him answer that question first.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the fact that the vehicle has a new registration number plate does not necessarily mean that it cannot be defective.

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. Is the Assistant Minister aware that what he is telling us is inconsistent because, for a vehicle to be registered, it must be inspected? The vehicle has a warranty. Is he in order to tell us that a vehicle can be registered today and become defective tomorrow?

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I have said that the fact that you have a new registration number plate does not necessarily mean that the vehicle cannot be defective. The hon. Member knows that there are second-hand vehicles which are being imported into this country.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Assistant Minister has failed to explain or give an account of how this vehicle, KBA 339, was released on tramped up charges. He has failed to give any explanation. That is the first point. Secondly, is it not law in this country that a vehicle carrying perishable goods should not actually be arrested until the products have been delivered effectively?

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we offered to escort those vehicles because of what they were carrying but the driver declined. Under those circumstances, my officers had to carry on with their work. I also laid on the Table the charge sheet. I will request the hon. Member to go through the charges and if there is any---

Thank you, Mr. Assistant Minister. Hon. Member, if there is any reason that makes you doubt that they should not have been escorted, you will present that issue another time. Next Question!

asked the Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security:-

(a) why Mr. Lekula Lesudo (P/No.180239) has not received his retirement benefits since he retired on 19th February, 1980; and,

(b) when the payment will be made.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I beg to reply.

(a) The Ministry is not able to trace Mr. Lekula’s file to establish why he has not been paid retirement benefits since he retired in February 1980.

(b) Immediately the missing documents are found, we will use them to open a temporary file to enable us process the payment. In order to expedite the payments, we require the following documents; a copy of his identity card, a copy of his appointment letter, DP 24 revised, a copy of his confirmation letter, latest payslips which shows his last salary, computation pension option form to show bank particulars, various payslips - at least five, WCPS pension scheme recoveries, promotion/upgrading letters, if any, and Income Tax clearance certificate. A letter has already been sent to the Provincial Commissioner, Eastern Province, requesting for provisional file to facilitate the process as a matter of urgency.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the issue of Mr. Lekula who has not been paid his pension for the last 29 years is a sad affair to our country. The Assistant Minister is asking me to provide information which the Government should have. How do you expect an old man who is over 70 years old to have all those documents which should be in the files of the Government of Kenya? They are turning the responsibility to the common man instead of helping him. I am asking the Assistant Minister a very simple question: What happened to the documents of Mr. Lesudo when he was supposed to be the custodian of those documents?

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the payment of pension is done by the Treasury. The Ministries simply forward the documents as requested. I am assuming, at this moment, the documents were never forwarded to the Treasury. The documents I have are from---

On a point of Order, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. Is it in order that an Assistant Minister should stand while answering a Question and say that he is assuming when he is supposed to establish facts before answering the question?

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, ideally, this Question belongs to the Treasury and I have no problem in referring it there so that we start from there rather than from the Ministry.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Assistant Minister talked about the file having been destroyed. How sure is he that the documents he is referring to were not forwarded by this person?

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the question was not very clear.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, my understanding is that when you forward documents to the Ministry, they should be kept in your personal file. If the file has been destroyed, how sure is the Assistant Minister that the individual concerned did not forward the documents to the Ministry before the file was destroyed?

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I have a letter from the Provincial Commissioner saying that the file was destroyed. I do not understand under what circumstances a file which was supposed to be kept until the person is paid pension was destroyed more than 15 years late. I am not able to explain that fact. I am requesting for copies of the documents, if the

Mr. Lekuton that is a fair request. Could you ask your last question?

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we cannot take such issues very lightly because this man is going blind and he has no penny in his account. The Assistant Minister has asked me to provide all these information. However, I will request the Chair to defer this Question and if it is okay, the matter be referred to the Ministry of Finance.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, 29 years ago is a long time. It is extremely unlikely that the Treasury as it is constituted today has the capacity to recreate the file. We want to help this person get his pension. He has already assisted me with part of the information. I am requesting that if he has more information, that he supplies it to me. If he does not have more information, we will forward whatever I have and try to pursue the Treasury, the Pension Department, to pay.

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. Twenty nine years is a long time ago. I have listened to the Assistant Minister. He expects the hon. Member to provide him with information yet he has the DCs’, chief and the assistant chiefs whom he should be using to get all the information that he needs.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, a number or DCs’ who were working in 1980s are probably not alive. Let us be very practical. Let us just have the information. If he does not have the information, I will use the information he has already give me to try and persuade the Treasury to pay.

Hon. Members, I think what the hon. Assistant Minister is asking for is fair. Let us see if this issue can be resolved. I would like to direct the hon. Member who asked the Question to provide the information that he has. Surely, the identity card for that person must be somewhere. This issue should be resolved.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, they have the identity card of this gentleman. That should be all the information that they need.

On a point of information, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker.

Do you want to inform the Assistant Minister?

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I would like to inform my friend, the Assistant Minister, that if the Government employed this man, who retired 29 years ago and destroyed his file, it is incumbent upon it to ensure that he is paid his retirement benefits. The onus to pay the retirement benefits is not on the former employee but on the Government.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I take that point of information from my former Provincial Commissioner, Mr. Musila and, indeed, the man who modified the pension law to enable civil servants to receive their pension as they leave office.

I hope that the proceedings of this House will be utilised, respected and honoured by the Treasury as evidence necessary to pay pension to Mr. Lekula who retired 29 years ago. An hon. Member: On a point of order, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Members, we cannot take any more points of order on that Question. I would like to inform hon. Members that we spent ten minutes calling out Questions and there was no Questioner to ask or Minister to answer them. As you are aware, this is the Second Allotted Day for the Committee of Ways and Means. We are just ten seconds to the beginning of Order No.8. So, please come on time next time! I will, therefore, defer all the remaining Questions and Ministerial Statements for the same purpose. Let us move on to Order No.8!

Yes, Mr. Lessonet!

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Budget Speech. I take this opportunity to congratulate the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance for the Budget he read to us last Thursday. This is the kind of Budget Kenyans have been looking forward to, since Independence. The Deputy Prime Minister has succeeded to devolve resources or send funds down to the constituencies. He also appreciated the fact that the centre of interest in these funds at the moment is the constituency, against over 259 districts, most of which we might not associate ourselves with as Members of Parliament.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I would like to also take this opportunity to highlight sections of that Budget which I think are of interest to Kenyans. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance allocated Kshs30 million to every constituency towards the development of a centre of excellence in terms of a secondary school. It is true that, that money will assist us to improve on education in our constituencies. This money will enable every constituency to have an Alliance High School, a Lenana School or a Kenya High School of its own. I would like to also take this opportunity to advise my colleagues who are here that when they invest the Kshs30 million in a school, they should pay attention to where they will build the school. I think it will not make sense to build a Kshs30 million school on a two-acre, five-acre or even a 15-acre piece of land. I hope hon. Members will build such a school on a minimum of a 50-acre piece of land, so that they can avail all the facilities to their constituents. If this is done, hon. Members will avail rugby, hockey and football pitches. They will also avail a modern swimming pool, so that their students will appreciate the facilities which are provided in the National Schools of Kenya. For example, Nairobi School and Alliance High School have over 100 acres of land each, and that is why they are centres of excellence. So, hon. Members, make sure that you do not build such institutions on a five-acre or ten-acre piece of land. This is because if you do that you will not achieve the desired objectives in terms of creating centres of excellence.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance also allocated us Kshs20 million per constituency towards the establishment of a health centre. I applaud him for that, because in one way or the other, he has succeeded to remove the burden of Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) funding of health facilities. At least, each constituency will have a well built and equipped health centre with this amount of money. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance has also made a major leap by allowing us, as Members of Parliament, to control the monies which have been misused most of the time by our engineers. We appreciate that we have the technocrats in the name of road engineers, who have been managing the Kshs17 million meant for repair of roads in our constituencies. I applaud the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance for allowing those funds to be under the control of Members of Parliament. This is because, most of the time, when the roads are not done well, it is not the engineers who take the blame, but the Members of Parliament. With the funds coming down to us, we shall make sure that the roads in every constituency are properly done. However, there is still a role which, of course, we expect the

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I stand here to support the Motion. From the onset, I want to congratulate the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr. Kenyatta, and the entire team at the Treasury for giving this country a devolved and people-driven Budget.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, this is a Budget that encourages and stimulates the rural economy of this country. The rural economy is where we find 90 per cent of the Kenyan population. For the first time in the history of this country, we have a Budget that has distributed

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this important Motion. Since Thursday last week when the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance read the 2009/2010 Budget, there have been many reactions, compliments, praises and a few critics. One thing that we have to accept is that no Budget in the world, whether it is organizational or personal, is ever 100 per cent perfect. What is important is acceptability. A Budget that enjoys wider acceptability passes the test of being good. I want to contribute to this Motion touching on two critical areas. The first is the expenditure side and then I will conclude by touching on the revenue side. The expenditure side is the strong point of this Budget. I know that it would be very easy for people to ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance to try and cut on the Recurrent Expenditure. Theoretically, it is easy but practically it is quite a task. By reducing the proportionate share of the Recurrent Budget as a total of the entire Budget from 74 per cent to around 70 per cent is good enough. We must say that even though the total Budget is standing at an all time high of Kshs867 billion, but by shifting more resources to Development Expenditure, it is focusing more on medium and long term developments, which I think as a country is where we should go.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, a lot has been said about devolving funds. I really do not know whether to praise this because what did we expect? The main political parties in this country in 2007; the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), the Party of National Unity (PNU) and the ODM (K) had some kind of devolution in their manifestos. I am being told that also NARC (K) but I do not know whether they had a manifesto that had devolution. Maybe the

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity. I want also to join my colleagues in congratulating the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance for what now

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me a chance to also add my voice to this national debate, which carries a lot of weight. It gives the manner in which the resources of this country are going to be expended for the next one year and, probably, beyond. First of all, I want to record my congratulations to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance for coming up with a hat trick in the manner in which he devolved the national cake to every corner of this Republic, to ensure that we achieve the objectives that many politicians and leaders have been clamouring for, for a long, long time. For many years, Kenyans have been yearning for a new Constitution. It has all along been a question of ensuring that resources are distributed across the country in a fair and determinable manner. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to underline that in a situation where Kenyans pay taxes for maintenance of development activities in this country, it becomes imperative that Kenyans also get to know the principles and parameters that are used to apportion and distribute the taxes and values accruing from those taxes to them. I want to appreciate that the Minister for Finance was able to identify five critical and fundamental principles which he used as yardsticks to ensure that resources go to every part of the country. That is why, indeed, every hon. Member who has stood to contribute to this debate, and the members of the public at large, have made very positive commendations and attributes to the Minister. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the principles include ensuring that the Budget achieves a fair and stable macro-economic environment in which every willing and hard-working Kenyan can derive his or her livelihood and returns in a fair manner, without wanting to be guided by other people. It is a question of ensuring that the environment is conducive for those who want to do business and those that want to engage in productive activities. There is also the question of ensuring that infrastructure is not only controlled by the Central Government but by the constituencies. Each constituency will now receive a minimum of Kshs105 million to take care of its infrastructure. This is a great idea because it will ensure that business and other productive activities are undertaken. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the question of equitable distribution of the national cake is a great principle. However, it is important when we talk of equitable distribution of resources to also think about equity. “Equity” implies ensuring the concept of “one man, one vote.” It is true that whereas we have 210 constituencies in this country, their representation is not equitably equal. For instance, when we talk about setting up a centre of academic excellence in each constituency, cases will be found where in certain constituencies, you will have only one secondary school in existence as of now because of their population. You will also find so many secondary schools in constituencies where the population is, 200,000 or 300,000 people. Therefore, you will have difficulty in deciding how to expend the Kshs30 million that has been allocated. I urge the Ministry to consider very seriously, the question of equity because it is important. Every Kenyan must feel fairly treated.

When we talk about accountability, we are also talking about the need to ensure that the proposals that have been formulated in this Budget are not only seen to be good, but Kenyans also have a way of determining, measuring or knowing what has been proposed is being pursued and implemented. The accounting officers should ensure that this House gets quarterly reports of compliance with regard to what Ministries and Government departments do towards achieving the objectives of the Budget. Can we, as a House, know on a quarterly basis, whether the funds allocated to the various Government departments are expended in a pro rata basis? We should

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I also join my colleagues in commending the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance for the Budget Speech. It is truly a Budget that we should all be proud of and support. We should also work hard. I would also like to tell all Members of Parliament that this is a challenge to us. All of us should for once deliver service to the citizens of this country and stop politicking. We have to work extremely hard when we are allocated a lot of money to ensure that we deliver services to our citizens First, I would like to commend the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance because for the first time, he has given the old people of Kenya; people who have given us what we are proud of today, something that they can be proud of. He has ensured that they can put food on their table by allocating them some money. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance has given Kshs200 million to ensure that the old citizens of this country have something to put on, eat and meet their basic needs.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I also want to commend the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance for thinking about persons with disabilities. These people are ignored in most Budgets. Nobody has been thinking about them. However, in this Budget, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance has set up a fund of Kshs200 million which will go a long way to prove that being disabled does not mean being unable to serve the country. I would like to assure him that we will ensure that the money is utilised by the disabled for their own welfare and that of the people of this country. However, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance should have thought about the widows of this country when he allocated us this money. Widows of pensioners only get pension for five years after their husbands have died. After that, they are left on their own. I would like him to ensure that these widows are considered for pensions until their dying day because, indeed, they would have contributed to their husbands

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me time to contribute to this very important Motion. Indeed, Kenyans have been very delighted since the Budget was read last week, although there could be minimal reservations, which we need to talk about in this House.

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, inequity has caused this country a lot of pain since Independence. Many corners of this country have been ignored. They have not been benefitting from the taxes that they pay, because of poor management of our resources. This time round, the Minister has, at least, indicated that this is a very important element of our development agenda. He has actually factored funds for various constituencies which, of course, cover the entire Republic. I do not think this is actually what we had in our party manifestoes when we campaigned for election last time. It is still short of what we promised our electorate. Actually, he has given us only 7 per cent for the constituencies, whereas looking at what we had promised Kenyans in the various party manifestoes, some were talking about allocating 60 per cent of the Budget for development in the constituency or grassroots level. I remember that ODM had promised 60 per cent, while NARC(K) promised 65 per cent. So, 7 per cent is not what the majority of Kenyans had aspired for, but it is a move in the right direction.

On a point of order, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. We want to listen to the contributor on the Floor, but Members on the Government side are consulting in very high tones. Are they in order?

Order, hon. Members! Consult in low tones!

Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I think they are discussing on how they are going to implement this Budget, but they are too loud. Thank you for protecting me. I was talking about the other committees that have to be used at the grassroots level to ensure that the money is used properly. There is need to train those people, so that they can know

Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this important Motion about the Budget Speech.

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very important Motion.

I also want to join my colleagues in congratulating the Minister for Finance for a very wonderful budget. In the political circles, both local and international, they say this is the best Budget ever seen in sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of the best budgets.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Budget touched on every sector of this economy. It touched on every person living in this country. I should congratulate the Minister for

Thank you very much Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to support this year’s Budget. I want to thank the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance for presenting a well thought out Budget. This Budget has given the majority of Kenyans hope and inspiration. In fact, I wish to go on record and state that this is probably the best Budget Speech I have had the opportunity to listen to.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is important to note that the Budget was prepared and presented at a time when the entire world economy is threatened with a very serious recession. It was read at a time when our own economy is facing very severe challenges brought about by both external and domestic factors. The Minister correctly identified the major challenges facing this country, namely; poverty, unemployment, inability to produce sufficient foods for our people and the imbalances created because our resources have not been equitably distributed in the past. We appreciate that these are huge problems and challenges. However, we cannot just sit and wait. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we appreciate that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance has taken the first step, an initiative to try and tackle some of these problems through the various policy measures he announced. In the face of a depressed economy and the threat of adverse effects of the global financial crisis, the reality we are facing today because our exports earnings are on the decline and our tourism is going down, I feel that the most logical option and the best way forward, in my view, is to allow more public spending. We should have more resources invested in spending through public projects in order to stimulate the economy and trigger more economic activities all the way down. I think this is the best option.

Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. Very many things have been said about this Budget. It has been described as bold, imaginative, to some people reckless and to some, clever. It has been many things and more. The proposal to borrow Kshs109 billion, they call it a “whooping Kshs109 billion”, to support the projects in infrastructure, especially the rail, road, energy, irrigation, water and many other projects that create employment is ingenius. There is a huge deficit of 6.5 per cent of our GDP. I think that there is nothing to worry about. It is not too large. Even if it were large, we need to borrow to deal with the crisis that we have.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, balanced budgets are not fashionable in the current economic crisis. In fact, people are now talking about economic stimulus and stimulus packages. That is what is now fashionable from Obama, Gordon Brown, Angela Michael to Uhuru. They are all doing it. In fact, capitalist countries said laissez faire are now buying their banks and investing in car-making companies to create or save employment. Nobody is ashamed about this. They are not talking capitalism or socialism, but economic stimulus. That is the language we are talking. What we are staving off is a meltdown and social upheaval. This must come at a cost. The cost of Kshs109 billion is not too high to pay. However, this Budget is not the many other things that have been talked about. It is, definitely, not fiscal devolution. In fact, it is the centre through line Ministries. What is devolution is the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) and the Local Authorities Transfer Fund (LATF). However, the money that has been given to the line Ministries to fund two schools, one health centre, one fish pond and many other things is not devolution. Of course, the name “constituency” has been thrown in to make it attractive and sexy, but, definitely, it is not devolution. This is because the same line Ministries are the bottlenecks to growth and development. I hear the Treasury Mandarins, and the word “mandarins” mean “very powerful officials at Treasury”, told Mr. Kenyatta: “Do not raise the CDF allocation because Members of Parliament are corrupt and reckless. Put the money in line Ministries.” What that has amounted to is that in the next financial year, we will find billions of shillings coming back here unused. The employment we wanted to create, the development and growth we wanted to stimulate will not be there because the line Ministries are not in the habit of spending money on development. They are in the habit of spending money where it pays to them. Let us put the money in the CDF. When we first created the CDF here, we were proposing a 5 per cent allocation. The then Minister told us to just wait a moment. He told us to put it at 2.5 per cent and in one year or two when the economy did better, they would raise it to 5 per cent. We have waited for almost ten years now. The CDF allocation is not being increased because that is devolution. It seems that, that is what the Government is resisting. We are allocating Kshs140 billion to deal with many things. We want to deal with roads, rail, ports, broadband and the energy sector. That amount of money is not enough. We will not fund our development through taxes. It has never funded any development. Most development is funded by long-term bonds. Let us create bonds to build a railway line from Mombasa to eastern Congo. Make it profitable and we will invest in it. If we wait for budget allocations to build the

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving this chance to contribute to this very important Motion. Indeed, from the time the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance presented the Budget, there have been a lot of accolades. I fear that some of them might be misplaced. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we all know about subsistence farming. I fear that this is a subsistence Budget in the sense that I am not sure whether this Budget will awaken the giant that is Kenya. One thing that is very simple is, for any development of any nation, you must research and develop your own. How much money has this Budget put towards research and development? It is zero, if any. I think the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you very much for the opportunity to support my colleagues. First, I would like to thank the two Principals; the President and the Prime Minister, for working together and creating the necessary environment which has made it possible for this Budget to be presented in this House. They have given the

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this important Budget for this country. I must say that this is the best Budget for an emerging and growing economy especially based on the fact that the world is facing recession.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Kshs867 billion is a mind boggling figure and I thank the Minister for allocating this kind of money because in order for a country to grow, you must create a problem and in turn look for a solution. Actually Kshs867 billion is a problem that was created by the Minister and looking for this money is the solution. As a country, I know that we are going to make it and I thank the Minister for coming up with this Budget.

The CDF is a very good initiative. I have listened to my colleagues and most of them have been advocating for majimbo . This is the best majimbo ever to be presented here. What

are we looking for yet money has been devolved to the constituencies? I want to thank

Do you support, hon. Mbugua?

I do support, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I said that from the beginning.

Thank you. Proceed, hon. Kathuri!

Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I stand to support this Motion. It is unfortunate that we have talked since Independence about Kenya where resources are distributed equally. But this time round, I can see that we are heading in the right direction.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to start by commending the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, for having done us good, and for having done our generation proud. We are in the same age bracket and when I see an agemate doing things the right way, it makes me feel very proud! Devolving resources is the first step in the right direction.

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you remember what happened in 2007 after the general elections, it is very evident that Kenyans have always been very uncomfortable with the resources being distributed from a central point. It was very evident that even when there was that grumbling, it was genuine. How do we address that problem? The only way is to devolve funds. Power, when funds have been devolved, is not as bad, even when it is in the hands of one person. But when the funds are in the hands which are controlling all the power, then it becomes very difficult for you to be able to disburse those funds into the various corners of this country and, as a result, all the communities would definitely feel very uncomfortable when they have to go begging when it is their right!

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the coming Budget should also be done in the same way. We pray that it is the same Minister who will actually be reading that Budget Speech because it will definitely make us feel confident that we are heading in the right direction even in

Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute in support of this Budget. I would like to say from the outset that the Budget Speech was good. It was positive in many ways. The Budget was drawn in light of the bad economic situation in the whole world. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance did a good thing to increase devolved funds to the constituencies. This is one of the best aspects of promoting development. What needs to be done is to put structures in place, if they are not there, for the devolved funds other than the CDF. We have the CDF Committee which is the channel of utilising the CDF money. For other funds, we should know how the Member of Parliament or whatever committee that will be set up or whoever is in the local leadership to be involved in the supervision of the projects that will be as a result of the new devolved funds. I congratulate the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance for making the constituency and not the districts a centre for development. We have too many districts, but he chose the constituencies which are fewer than the districts. In future, the constituency should be

Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, naomba kuchukua nafasi hii ili kuunga mkono, Hoja hii. Nikiunga mkono Hoja hii ya makadirio ya fedha za Serikali, naomba kwanza kumshukuru na kumpongeza mwenzetu Naibu wa Waziri Mkuu na Waziri wa Fedha, Mhe. Kenyatta, kwa makadirio ambayo amewasilisha hapa Bungeni, ambayo yanaonyesha kuwa alikariri sana na kujihusisha sana na hali ya uchumi ilivyo hapa nchini na ulimwengu wote kwa jumla. Nikichangia Hoja hii, ni mara ya kwanza ambapo tumeona makadirio ya Serikali yameelekezwa mashinani. Tukikumbuka hasa, utata tuliokuwa nao mwaka wa 2007 baada ya kupiga kura na malalamishi ambayo yalitokea, moja ya mambo ambayo yalijitokeza wazi ilikuwa ni usambazaji wa raslimali za nchi.Wananchi wengi walihisia kuwa kuna mikoa fulani ambayo, kila wakati katika makadirio ya Serikali, inapendelewa. Fedha za Serikali zilikuwa zinalenga mikoa fulani. Kwa hivyo, wananchi walikuwa na ghadhabu na ikabidi waitoe wakati huo na waeleze kinagaubaga kuwa: “Jamani, haturidhika!”

Order, hon. Mwadeghu! It is now 12.30 p.m. You will continue with your contribution when the debate resumes. You will have an additional five minutes. Hon. Members, it is now 12.30 p.m. It is time to interrupt the business of the House. Therefore, the House stands adjourned until this afternoon at 2.30 p.m.

The House rose at 12.30 p.m.