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{
    "id": 1026647,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1026647/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 363,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Mbadi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": "I have a few concerns that need to be addressed. There are certain observations that I have made from the Bill. One is that we need to be cautious. There is need for these enterprises, whether micro, small or medium, to understand that the loans that will be advanced to them is not free money. The reason the Youth Enterprise Development Fund, the Women Enterprise Development Fund and the Uwezo Fund are struggling is because Kenyans have the bad manners of imagining that any money that has government hand in it is free money. These businesses need to understand that the money that they would be loaned from the financial institutions but guaranteed by the government is not free money but money that they must work hard to repay. The second observation is to caution the CS responsible that apart from our debt level which is as a result of borrowing, we also have parastatals that have been guaranteed loans by the national government. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, many of them are defaulting payment of their loans. Those loans will fall on the shoulders of the National Treasury. Remember we already have regulations that allow counties to also borrow and the National Government to guarantee. So, if we are not careful with the guarantees, we are going to expose this country to a debt risk that may affect our economy adversely. We all know that when banks are calculating loans, the cost of borrowing or the risk factor is very important. That is why I am supporting fully the guaranteeing of the loans to SMEs. If that guarantee is not provided, the cost of borrowing will be very high. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I must admit that I have not looked into details of the report of the committee, but I will check. I hope the Committee has considered the powers that have been given to the Cabinet Secretary in this Bill. This Bill has literally given the CS powers to prescribe, through regulations, the operation of this scheme which includes determining who is eligible. It also puts in the hands of the CS those institutions that are eligible, the conditions for granting the loan, and the proportion of security for the loan that would be provided by those being loaned. My concern is the behaviour in this country of public office holders. The moment you give them a free hand to determine who gets what, and especially where funding is involved, you will see the bad manners of a CS. He or she will only approve loans for those enterprises which come either from his or her ethnic community, region and village. That is something I expect the committee to look into. We should have a board so that decisions are not made by one individual. I can see my time is running out and many Members would want to contribute. So, I support the Bill."
}