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{
    "id": 1128392,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1128392/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 659,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mukurweini, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Anthony Kiai",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13439,
        "legal_name": "Anthony Githiaka Kiai",
        "slug": "anthony-githiaka-kiai"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this chance. I rise to support the Bill. I have known KIRDI for some time now. It has been around for some decades. It is unfortunate that this pre-eminent institution has not had a legal framework to support it. Having this Bill before Parliament today is a big stride in the right direction as it seeks to ensure that the Institute is anchored in law as opposed to the current situation where it is a mere appendage of a certain Ministry. As it is, the Institute does not have legal autonomy and, therefore, cannot work and exploit its full potential. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the great economies of the world thrive on innovation. The industrial revolution set the path to greatness for European countries. There is no country that will ever develop without innovation. That is why we must ring-fence KIRDI to ensure that Kenyans become innovative, and that their ideas are well protected. China, India and most of the South Asian economic tigers have become economic titans on account of research and development. They have institutions which are supported by their respective governments to ensure that they conduct research, develop new things and innovate. That way, they have been able to grow their economies. Their universities are research and development centres. That is a sure way of ensuring that graduates churned out from universities are responsive to the labour market and the needs of a particular country. Kenya is a country that exports raw materials and in return imports manufactured goods at a higher premium. If that situation remains, then I can assure you that Kenya is not about to become a developed country. We will rely on outside countries to supply us with manufactured goods that fetch a higher premium and yet, we supply them with raw materials at a very low price. In Kenya, there are various examples of innovations. I will pick the example of a local car model called Mobius, which has been around this country for about five years. Through innovation, Mobius has been able to produce a car that responds very well to the local terrain. It may not be up there with the Land Cruisers and Range Rovers, but we are getting somewhere. This is what we are talking about research and development. Someone has put money into researching the kind of motor vehicle we should have in our local terrain. He has developed it and right now, we are at Mobius 3, which is an improvement of Mobius 1 and 2. That shows what research and development can do. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, most of the multi-national corporations thrive on research and development. That is a key aspect and an integral part of their management to churn out new products and ensure that they respond to customers’ needs. I want to believe that KIRDI will do exactly that. As it does so, I want to imagine a KIRDI that is protected by law, and which will collaborate with local and international universities to create innovations that will ensure our country produces small items like toothpicks, whistles and ploughs. In Kenya, we import all those 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."
}