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{
    "id": 1128497,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1128497/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 764,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nyaribari Chache, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Richard Tong’i",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2611,
        "legal_name": "Richard Nyagaka Tongi",
        "slug": "richard-nyagaka-tongi"
    },
    "content": "From the outset, I support the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 44 of 2020) for many reasons. The most important reason is because I believe that a country which has not invested a lot in research will not go far. When we are net consumers of products which are imported into our country, vis-à-vis what we export to other countries, we are losers in that sense. We can only develop through manufacturing. When there is manufacturing in the country, we have opportunities to create employment for our youth and grow the country’s tax base. We cannot keep whining and complaining about not getting our portion of the “cake”, yet we have not done anything to improve the baking of the “cake”. I believe that this Bill is timely and will help to improve the number of “cakes” we bake. We will not just bake one “cake” but many “cakes”, so that everybody can have a portion. The fathers of this country had the wisdom of coming up with the county model of leadership and government. Using the county model, we are able to identify the strengths in every county’s local industry and build on them, so that we achieve a lot more than we have as a country. For the longest time, we kept whining that our regions have been marginalised, but now every county receives billions of shillings. If governors were innovative enough, they would come up with local industries that would address the unique challenges of those counties. That way, we will have factories. All over the world, countries which have succeeded are those that have invested in local strengths. If all of us can build on what we are good at the local setup, we will succeed. For example, Kisii is known for soapstone. We produce the best soapstone in the world. However, we have not invested or added value to the soapstone, so that when it goes out there, we get a good price for producing what Mother Nature has given us. We encourage both the county government and the national Government to invest in that industry. It is an untapped and underutilised industry. If we invested in that industry as a country, we will get benefits which will go beyond many generations to come. We believe that if the soapstone in Kisii were manufactured in a more scientific way, we should export it to countries in demand of the soapstone products. The way we do it at the moment using the cottage industry does not help us because only 10 per cent of the product is used. The rest, 90 per cent, which should be used to make tiles and other products goes to waste because we do not have the capacity, the knowhow and we have not invested in an industry which will tap into that and make Kenya a better and great country."
}