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{
    "id": 1032674,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1032674/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 213,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "North Imenti, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Rahim Dawood",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2572,
        "legal_name": "Abdul Rahim Dawood",
        "slug": "abdul-rahim-dawood"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I want to first of all thank the President for his State of the Nation Address. On Page 49, the President said he would want to see a Kenya where no one will ascend to a high public office on account of his or her tribe. In addition, I wanted to add, not just tribe, it should be even race as well. This is because we have some Members in this Parliament who have not been chosen because of their tribe or race because we are testament to that. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the President also mentioned about the wages of politics and what the former late President Moi said that siasa mbaya, maisha mbaya. This is true. We, as Kenyans and as politicians, should accept each and every person's contrary opinion and I believe if we do that, we are going to go very far. I laud the President on his promise that by 2022, we will have 100 per cent electricity connection. I hope we can allocate more money to the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) and the Kenya Power for the last mile connectivity and more transformers in our constituencies. We have an issue with transformers and lines in our constituencies. I want to thank His Excellency the President because in 2017, we got titles in my constituency for the informal settlements of Majengo, Mjini and Salama. However, we have another informal settlement called Shauri Yako. From 2016, we have not received its title deeds and I hope with the President's message of titling, we will soon get them. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is very good to talk about the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) because it has been a thorn in the flesh of many Kenyans. However, I was just listening to the news from the United Kingdom (UK) and it seems everybody there wants to benefit from the COVID-19 funds. There is a Kshs18 billion tender which was given out to influential people there. We need to get to the bottom of the KEMSA scandal because at the moment, we need the Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to be given to our doctors and medical personnel. The other day, our Cabinet Secretary, Mutahi Kagwe, talked about North Imenti; my constituency, being number two after Nairobi in the prevalence of COVID-19 cases. Let us not generalise COVID-19 in the regions where we come from. We need to know why the cases are increasing. My constituency hosts the county headquarters and covers more than seven counties from where people come for many things to the county headquarters. Therefore, I think we need to get away from the stigmatisation attached to COVID-19. I want to thank the President for reducing the Value Added Tax from 16 per cent to 14 per cent following the onset of COVID-19. We need to know when we will get the NG-CDF money. The President said that Members of Parliament should use the NG-CDF money to help schools get the necessary infrastructure to fight this pandemic. However, you cannot do anything if you do not have the money. Therefore, the National Treasury should release this money before January for us to act. We can intervene before January so that when children go back to school, we have enough classrooms and protective masks."
}