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{
    "id": 114151,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/114151/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 197,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Musila",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister, Ministry of State for Defence",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 94,
        "legal_name": "David Musila",
        "slug": "david-musila"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support the Motion. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President’s Speech was timely. I would like to congratulate him for delivering such an excellent Speech. After listening to the President and re-reading the Speech that he delivered, it is clear to everyone that the President is very clear in his own mind where he wants to take this country. However, I am sorry to say that some of us, who are charged with the responsibility of initiating and implementing Government policies, are not doing it properly. I would like to touch on a few areas that the President mentioned in his Speech. One of them was reduction of poverty. As you go round this country, you will be alarmed to note that our people are getting poorer and poorer. There are many factors to that and one of the factors is unemployment. The President said that one of the ways of tackling unemployment was to initiate a policy that will reduce and maintain low interest rates. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the cost of money in this country is very high. We have said that time and again. We have asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank to ensure that policies are put in place to reduce the cost of money. Interest rates are very high. Every time the banks publish their profits, they are the most profitable institutions in this country. They are milking Kenyans by charging high interest rates. A savings account earns not more than 4 per cent. But the banks charge an interest rate of between 16-18 per cent per annum. Where in the world can you invest and create employment, when you pay 18 per cent interest on loans? Therefore, I urge those who are responsible for our monetary policy to ensure that banks reduce interest rates, so that our people can borrow money, invest and create employment. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another area that the President touched on in his Speech was education. Today, most of the people here are celebrating the good performance of their schools. Sadly, many of us cannot join in those celebrations. That is because our schools lack teachers. For how long are we going to continue comparing and testing schools based on their performance, when we know very well that the Government is not distributing teachers fairly? I am very sad to say that I have some schools in my constituency that have two Form II classes, but with only one teacher each. How does the Ministry of Education expect those schools to perform when they are denied teachers? I am, therefore, urging the Ministry of Education to do everything possible to ensure that there is equitable distribution of teachers in this country. We will no longer tolerate a situation where some areas are favoured and given all the teachers they need, while others are left without teachers. This is a matter we have talked about for many years. Time has now come for the Minister to put deliberate efforts to ensure that every school in this country is supplied with teachers. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President is the initiator of the Kazi kwa"
}