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{
    "id": 1201983,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1201983/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 237,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "The President said he will increase Judiciary money so that they conclude corruption cases. He should have said that he will seek Parliament to approve his proposals. When the Executive brings a budget here, it is a proposal until Parliament approves or disapproves it. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I remind Kenyans that the moment we start respecting the principle of separation of powers or the check and balance system, is the time that we will develop as a democracy. I have no beef with the President proposing to set up a fund for Kshs50 billion to help Kenyans. It is something that we, in Parliament, must consider. On one hand, the President is proposing to cut the budget by Kshs300 billion. In the other hand, he is suggesting to increase the budget by Kshs50 billion to be able to create what he calls the ‘Hustlers’ fund. If the President would have taken us step by step and demystify where this Kshsh300 billion will be deducted from, I would be giving a different opinion. However, as things stand now, it was more like a statement because he did not give details as to where this money was going to come from. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I now get into a very important issue. I hope this House will take very careful measures in agreeing to it. In line No.20 of his Address – I will read it in order to be able to prosecute it – the President said; “We are on a mission to dramatically scale up productivity in agriculture and make sure every Kenyan farmer, fisherman and pastoralist, contributes to sustainable economic growth by contributing to adequate and affordable food.” Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, about a week ago, we all woke up to news that the Cabinet had approved the lifting of the ban on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). The only way to scale up productivity in agriculture in this country today when we are facing severe drought, is by altering the genetics of any crop which is planted here. Before we do that, I beseech both the Executive and this House, to educate Kenyans on the dangers of altering the genetics of any food or crop. Some of them include resistance to antibiotics and allergens. Most importantly, in a country of many poor people, it reduces the nutritional value of the food. So, we have to be open and careful when we come to this suggestion. Finally, on the issue of the NG-CDF and the Senate oversight fund, my views are a little bit unorthodox. We are a legislative arm of Government and that money should not be coming to the Senate or the National Assembly. It should be sent to county governments to promote devolution. We then need to find a mechanism where Members of both Houses can be part of a committee that ensures they scrutinise the budget. The budget has to become a project-based budget. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, my time is over but I wish I had more time. Let me end by stating that let us not tamper with Mother Nature. Let us be very careful about GMOs. The moment we alter the genetics of anything that goes into our stomachs without telling citizens who do not have access to that information, is the day that Mother Nature will be pissed off with us and we will end up encouraging more disease to come into this country."
}