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{
    "id": 1192691,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1192691/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 39,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "North Imenti",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Rahim Dawood",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. At the outset, I support the Motion by Hon. John Kiarie on the empowerment of artisans by the national Government. This Motion is very timely because we have so many innovators among our youth, but they have a problem in accessing funding. We are aware that we have the Uwezo Fund, but it is very limited in the sense that it has to be given to a group of people and not an individual. The rule of the Fund is that it can only be given to groups of youths who should be 10 to 15 in number. It can also be given to anybody under the age of 35 for males but, for females, it can go up to 100 years old. Therefore, we need to devise a way in which the Youth Fund can be given to innovators at a concessionary rate, and not interest rates, just like the case in Uwezo Fund. Uwezo Fund does not attract any interest, and it is payable in two years. The other thing is to borrow what we do in the NG-CDF, where we give 2.5 per cent to environment and sports. We could also give the 2.5 per cent to a kitty which would assist these innovators. I believe it is achievable. There is a programme on television here in Kenya and in the United Kingdom (UK) where investors come together and fund innovators to do what they can do best. This is because you do not necessarily have to be educated for you to innovate and fill the gap that is in the market. I think we can improve such programmes in our country. Even as we support them to be innovative, we should also help to patent their work. This will ensure that the patent is protected not just in Kenya, but all over the world. We need to have a good patent system so that new innovations in Kenya are not copied, either in China, Taiwan, Singapore, Bangladesh or India. This is necessary so that we can protect our innovators for good. If this Motion goes through, I wish it could be turned into a Bill by Hon. Kiarie. In this way, the Committee on Trade, Industry and Co-operatives can take it up so that our people can get this money as soon as possible. The money should not just be through the NG-CDF, Uwezo or Youth Fund, but any other fund that the Government will establish - even the Hustlers’ Fund - so that innovators can be given this money to do their work. I believe that once we get the innovators off the ground, we will reduce the level of unemployment in this country. This is because the youth who know what to do will be engaged in fruitful ways of getting money and making use of their knowledge and expertise. The proposer of this Motion, Hon. Kiarie, talked about the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA). The institution is there but it needs to be strengthened so that we do not get employers just paying NITA for the sake of paying and yet, there is no real training on the ground. NITA has been here for some time now, but I have never heard about the number of graduates from there that have come into the job market. We need to strengthen a lot of things, including setting up a stand-alone fund for those artisans. Once the Fund is there, there will be an authority to manage it and we can then move forward and get our people employed. I want to join others and request my colleagues to congratulate Hon. Kiarie and support the Motion wholeheartedly, so that we can get this off the ground. I urge that the Fund be based at the constituency level because that is what will assist our people since we know what they need. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I congratulate Hon. Kiarie once again."
}