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{
    "id": 1052343,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1052343/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 32,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Homa Bay CWR, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Gladys Wanga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 590,
        "legal_name": "Gladys Atieno Nyasuna",
        "slug": "gladys-atieno-nyasuna"
    },
    "content": "(iv) In order to promote efficiency in grain bulk handling services in the country, there is need for the Government to provide critical infrastructure to continually expand and sustainably gain leverage in technology while maximising return on investment. Such critical infrastructure includes wide berths and state of the art vessel handling equipment. If you visit the Lamu Port, you will see that the Government investment under the LAPSSET Programme is commendable. The three berths that have been completed are huge and provide sufficient space. The next big thing in this country is going to be the Lamu Port and the LAPSSET Corridor. That is going to be the next big place. A lot of cargo is going to move in that direction. So, investment is already being done there, but we hope and we are happy that similar investment is happening in other ports such as the Kisumu Port. That expansion should continue so that the inland parts of Kenya and the East African region at large can be served adequately through the Port of Kisumu while the Ethiopian Corridor and South Sudan is served through the Lamu Port, and the Mombasa Port continues to perform the critical role that it does. The KPA should continue investing through PPPs framework in expansion of port facilities to accommodate more berths. What we are saying in other words is that where the Government invests the kind of money that it continues to invest in parastatals, there must be returns. It must be demonstrated that that investment is worth the while of the Kenyan taxpayers that continue to pay taxes. Some State- owned enterprises are not worth their salt. Year in year out, we continue to pump in money and get nothing in return. In fact, the Government continues to make losses while we continue to pump taxpayers’ money into them. At the moment, we have a huge deficit in the budget and a debt ceiling that is bursting. The Government must look for creative ways of raising revenue. We cannot continue to borrow. Why have we not yet thought about divestiture in some of these State-owned enterprises? The last time a Kenyan company was listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) was during President Kibaki’s time. Ever since, there has been no listing in the stock exchange, yet we are struggling to raise revenues to fund the budget. If we were to undertake a re-listing of some companies like the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and others, and then do primary listing of a few others such as the ports, we would be able to raise up to Kshs350 billion from those listings to pump into the Exchequer. These are some of the creative ways we should look at for raising revenue so that we do away with borrowing and debt accumulation. The Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, together with all stakeholders, are exploring creative ways to optimise revenues from 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."
}