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{
    "id": 1026690,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1026690/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 406,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Garissa Township, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Aden Duale",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 15,
        "legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
        "slug": "aden-duale"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. At the outset, let me thank Hon. Gladys Wanga, the new Chair. At least, I can confirm that she is up to the task of being the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning. I am getting used to it. You know I am back now so I prepared for everything I see on the Order Paper until the Refugees Bill. So, I will sit here for long because I missed this in the last seven years. What are we doing with this PFM Act, 2012? All we are doing is to provide guarantees by the CS presumably being the CS for National Treasury and Planning for loans advanced to micro, small and medium enterprises. That is exactly what this Bill is trying to do. The proposed law which the Treasury has set conditions for is State-backed credit. What we are dealing with is State- backed credit. Maybe this will come in the regulations. The devil is in the detail. Where is the infrastructure? Who is going to disburse this money? Which bank? The House must deal with everything and I am sure the Committee will deal with it when we come to the Committee of the whole House. Which are these banks? Have we looked at the certain sections of this country which are in business but they deal with certain banks which are both conventional and Islamic banks? I will bring amendments to make sure that that particular section of the Kenyan community accesses this. The proposal also grants powers to the Treasury CS to effect periodic review. Apart from the review, we do not want to have another scandal here where only certain people access the SMEs in every part of Kenya. I was wondering why Hon. Dismas Barasa was saying in western Kenya there are certain criteria. If women are not lazy there and that they have business enterprises, then you need to tell us why there is a high poverty rate in western Kenya. Your science and statistics must add up. I want to say it very categorically. This system has worked in Jordan and many countries including even the US. For example, what do they do in the US and Japan? The US Government directly provides credit support to SMEs called Small Businesses Administration (SBA) which is a federal agency that helps small business financing. However, what everybody has raised here is that this is not free money. This is the problem of Uwezo Fund and the Youth Enterprise and Development Fund. What has brought us here? Why are we talking about credit? I thought the framers of the Constitution expected that when Kenya went the devolved system, devolution would build the capacity of small and medium enterprises in our counties. Today, the biggest challenge to SMEs is pending bills. Governors are not paying pending bills and where they want to pay, if they owe you Ksh5 million, they tell you to give them Ksh2.5 million kickback. They take the profit plus the principal sum. The national Government has been told to pay pending bills. If we pay pending bills to Kenyans both at the county and national levels particularly during this COVID-19 period, I can tell you the business sector will improve. On this maximum annual turnover of Ksh100 million, 250 employees will qualify for loans guaranteed by the Government. In my opinion, I think the Committee needs to look at that and also the criteria. Finally, if you allow me, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, because I have really researched on this because for me..."
}