Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1128520,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1128520/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 787,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nambale, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Sakwa Bunyasi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2511,
        "legal_name": "John Sakwa Bunyasi",
        "slug": "john-sakwa-bunyasi"
    },
    "content": "through? Who are some of the high talents they could bring on board? It is good to have heavyweight engineers sitting in KIRDI. That is good enough. But they need a serious outreach programme because we have a lot of talent on the ground. We used to have somebody in Nyeri who was making things and another who had been making an aeroplane back in the 70s. Now, people like those must be admired. There was something they could offer. Institutions of this nature should look out to our talents and abilities, particularly now that we have universities of technology, but also institutes of technology. Somehow, pick up ideas from there, nurture them, and bring the authors on board so they can own what it is they are doing. They comfortably sit with the Government resources. Hopefully, over time and with that kind of approach, Government can win them off progressively. Perhaps maintain their interests but win the more progressively so that they can earn their keep as they do what they are doing. I would like to add something. The engineering part is not the only important thing that needs to be done. We need to combine that hardware part with the software part where we have supporting institutions so that when we talk about ideas being picked up in some of these countries and they run with them and so on; they have supporting casts of the institutions. These are those that will give venture capital or some risk capital of one kind or another to good ideas that have come up. We should have supporting institutions that will give venture capital or risk capital to good ideas that have come up and those that will pick it up and do the scaling up of the idea commercially. It is that whole link. We should do so while respecting where our own institutions and people are. It is not enough for us to admire what others are doing. Everybody is now praising China. I know it as an economy. As a people, China has been sophisticated for many centuries but it has not been market oriented to make an impact in the world. I remember one time the USA claimed that they had borrowed their ideas on space science and China came out with evidence of the mathematical prowess they had in 1000AD long before the founders of the USA began getting out of their caves. That is however an exaggeration but that means that they had the sophistication but did not have the market presence that they have now. They have come a long way. That does not just happen overnight. It is well integrated. The institutes of technology that we have copied our Technical Training Institutes (TTIs) from have become a major part of revitalizing the villages. The activities in the villages like enterprises and engineering components can move up and borrow ideas from equivalents of the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI). While KIRDI cannot be doing everything, it can help by crystallising, selecting and sieving. We need an integrated system in engineering and commerce that will help bring this to bear. Financial institutions will be critical if they will be willing to pick this up. Other investors may see a good idea, pick it up and replicate it. The engineering components of this are good. They are part of the big chain and we hope that, as this develops, other chain components will come on board so that we become a small industrialised giant nation that is growing by leaps and bounds. Company failures around the world are common in the USA, Europe and Japan. Only a small portion of these companies succeed. However, those that succeed make a difference. Those that fail, learn from it. We have to get people who can do hand-holding so that when a company fails with an idea, it can come back with another idea and there will be somebody who is willing to offer resources. We have communities in this country that do not normally go to banks to raise start-up capital. They are so organised that they can do it within their extended family circles. So, 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."
}