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"id": 1199197,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1199197/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Nandi Hills, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Bernard Kitur",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me the chance to contribute to the Motion on the development of a school feeding policy which has been sponsored by Hon. Elsie Muhanda. For the record, this is my maiden speech. This is the first time that I am speaking on the Floor of this House. I am Hon. Bernard Kitur, Member for Nandi Hills. I want to thank the Almighty God and, more sincerely, the people of Nandi Hills Constituency for electing and giving me the chance to be their representative in this august House in the hotly contested parliamentary elections. I want to thank the people of Kapchorua, Chepkunyuk, Ollessos and Nandi Hills Wards. They did an amazing work by giving me that chance. Definitely, I want to assure them that under my representation, they will have their full share of the national cake. I wish to also congratulate His Excellency President William Samoei Ruto, for being elected the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of this nation. In just a few days, he has demonstrated great boldness and brilliance in articulating macro solutions to the challenges that we, as a country, are facing. Despite the fact that Nandi County has never missed to have a Member of the Cabinet in the history of this country, I want to thank the President for recently appointing the Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service from my constituency in Nandi County - Commissioner Felix Kosgei - who is a very brilliant career professional. We truly appreciate him for that. My fellow Members, I want to first congratulate all of us on being elected. Secondly, the seniors or ranking members should not be harsh to some of us. We are speaking for the first time in this House. We are all indebted to you for mentoring us. Please be kind to us. I want to let the people of Nandi Hills Constituency know briefly some of the great challenges we face. For instance, there is a tarmac road from Emaki to Nandi Hills that is in deplorable condition, despite the fact that it cuts through the tea farm lands that earn this country billions of shillings. It is an eyesore. Being in leadership and Government, I want to assure them that constructing that road is one of the things that I will do to help them. Equally, when the President made a Speech here recently, he mentioned about the investment in the water sector where he would raise Kshs5 billion through PPP. I want to assure the people of Nandi Hills that I will try as much as possible to see the construction of Keben Dam. That has been a big prayer for the people. When we have that dam, the entire Nandi County as well as Nandi Hills Constituency will have sufficient water for irrigation. That rich region will change completely. One of the things that I want to touch on is a matter that is so dear to my heart. As the President made his Speech, the matter of public debt recurred. I want to talk briefly about the history of the President’s statement. The public debt of Kenya was Kshs1.9 trillion in 2013. It stands at Kshs8.6 trillion now. This is something that affects all of us. It affects the people of Nandi Hills as well. This is a rise of about 353 per cent. When you also look at the borrowing history, we had borrowed Kshs261 billion in 2013. It currently stands at Kshs866 billion. That means that the debt interest has risen from Kshs121 billion to Kshs578 billion. This is the largest expenditure item in our Budget which eclipses even our development spending. I want to also put into record that, indeed, this affects all of us, as a country. It affects the people of Nandi Hills, all of us and the cost of doing business in Kenya. 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."
}