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{
    "id": 113929,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/113929/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 275,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Mwangi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1409,
        "legal_name": "James Mwangi Gakuya",
        "slug": "james-mwangi-gakuya"
    },
    "content": "I would like to support the President in the way he looks at the economy of this country. There are issues of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eradication of poverty and others that would have seen the country get out of the habit of borrowing food and other things from other countries, when we can do it locally. We need to address that immediately. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, this afternoon, for instance, the Minister for Agriculture talked about buying maize all over the country. He hardly said how much cash he has for buying maize. He just talked about how the maize is going to be bought and how the farmers are going to benefit. But when you go to the ground, maize is rotting in the fields. It is as if we are not ready to achieve what has been set out by the Government. There is need for the Government to provide the finances. There is need for the Ministers to go to the ground and ensure farmers are paid. In the last few months, we have had problems with New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (NKCC) Limited. The Minister stood here and promised that a sum of Kshs300 million will be provided for purchasing and processing milk. Today, farmers have the milk and the prices have gone down. That is killing the morale of dairy farmers. You cannot activate poverty eradication activities by merely promising that funds to revamp agricultural activities will be made available. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, while supporting the President, it is also important to know that, today, much of what we get from the agricultural sector is through small-scale farming. Small-scale farmers hold the key to fighting perennial hunger. Around the world, the security of small-scale farmers depends on how much the Government is going to support their projects. We also need to address infrastructural development. Without getting to the high potential areas by providing good roads and other infrastructure, we cannot be able to fight poverty adequately. We have heard almost every hon. Member of this House complaining about the road network. Every corner of this country requires reasonably well-maintained roads. Unfortunately, some of the contractors that are given the contracts to do the roads do a very shoddy job. No wonder, every hon. Member who has spoken in this House this afternoon or last week, has emphasized on the need to fight corruption. Every road that is done in this country requires repairs hardly six months thereafter. There is need for the Government and, particularly, the Ministries concerned, to look into that aspect. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have many new districts that have been created and yet, we do not have adequate staff to serve the W ananchi in those areas. They require attention. I would also like to draw the Member’s attention to the issue of education. Whereas we may say that we have converted enough colleges into university campuses, I am sure that we do not have enough human resource to catch up with other countries. I would also like to support the President on the issue of the constitutional review process. It is every Kenyan’s right to stand and support the enactment of a new Constitution. We need the new Constitution much faster than we thought. We have waited for a very long time. We should support the draft Constitution and come out clearly, so that we can give this country a new constitution. I am sure we will achieve that objective. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}