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{
    "id": 1128408,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1128408/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 675,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mogotio, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Daniel Tuitoek",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13434,
        "legal_name": "Daniel Kamuren Tuitoek",
        "slug": "daniel-kamuren-tuitoek"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to also chip in on this issue of KIRDI. This institute is a multidisciplinary research and development body in industrial and such like technologies. It has been under the Ministry of Trade and Industry for a while. Most of the areas this institute covers include engineering, energy, environment and ICT. I know the Member who has just spoken, Hon. Osotsi, left out the fact that ICT is part of the areas this institute covers. Leather, textiles and food technology are others. This institute has almost become moribund. It was meant to boost or come up with new research technologies to boost SMEs and innovate new technologies in Kenya. Unfortunately, most of the things we are using here are imported from abroad, specifically from China. I know, until recently, before it was clamped down, we had so many types of products which were not of quality. I know this institute works closely with the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI). The KEBS is to certify the quality of products. The idea was actually good. The KIRDI was to come up with innovation and enable incubation centres in which some of these prototypes could be developed and then be up-skilled, as somebody said, through commercialisation and looking for partners to produce the products. Unfortunately, this has not happened. It just remained a department within the ministry and so, this Bill is very important because it will give life to the institute. Let us give it independence and money so that it can start concentrating on its research and development aspects. We know that China or even the Asian Tigers, namely, Korea, Taiwan, and the others, became industrial giants. They started becoming big because they spent a lot on research and development. In China and western countries, every company is forced to first have research and development centres which can innovate and make sure that they pass the technology to the young people. They make sure the technology they bring from outside is passed to the young scientists in their countries. We will look forward to seeing that KIRDI starts taking their job seriously. As Members of parliament, we should give it more money so that they can start producing products or coming up with innovations that can be taken up by investors. In this aspect of innovations, we should have a strategy in which we reduce products that we import from other countries. We can list all the products we import and start giving ourselves deadlines and say that certain production be phased out from importation and be produced locally. Even though the products may not be of high quality, with time, competition can be sharpened, and some of these products will start improving in quality. We should not fear that our products are not of high standard. I believe this can happen. 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."
}