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{
    "id": 1202497,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1202497/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 101,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mandera South, UDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Abdul Haro",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "both as Parliament and Executive, must be translated in terms of raising the bar to serve Kenyans and also to ensure that there is accountability to the electorates who have elected us. As a Member of Mandera South, my people who I represent in Parliament will definitely be happy to support the legislative agenda of His Excellency the President because it is transformative on many issues that affect the people of my constituency. The President particularly talked about people living in the region where I come from, that is, North Eastern and in particular Mandera County who have historically felt left behind or marginalised. The Speech was very inspiring because he said his administration will be open and transparent. He assured us that his Government will serve all people in all wards of each constituency and all constituencies in every region. That was very reassuring and very hopeful for us with constituencies in peripheral areas of this country like Mandera. The President’s promise to seek additional resources to support the bottom-up scaling of justice as well as his promise of allocating Ksh50 billion to the Hustler Fund is inspiring because majority of the people I represent in Parliament happen to be at the bottom of the pyramid. Both initiatives which is part of the President’s legislative agenda, that is, bottom-up scaling of justice and the Kshs50 billion Hustler Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is a timely and most welcome idea. I would say that we need bottom-up not just in scaling of justice but also scaling up of key Government departments in some of these peripheral constituencies like where I come from. In some constituencies, like where I come from, we need to have National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) offices. We need to have birth and death registration departments and Identification Card registration offices. Not only do we need to scale up justice at the top level but we also need to scale up justice bottom up in some of those key departments that I have just mentioned. The plan of scaling up productivity in agriculture is a welcome idea particularly from the region where I come from. I want to emphasise that the livestock part of agriculture should be given equal prominence to the crop part of agriculture. When we talk of consumption and subsidies in favouring or supporting and investing in production, the initiative should go beyond the fertilizer programme and improve on livestock production. My take therefore, is that, just like we have seen the support to fertilizer, we need to see some subsidy in livestock production, so that we can have livestock development to improve in our production. I am planning to bring a Bill to the Floor of this House on livestock insurance to deal with the perennial drought problem which wipes out our livestock. Livestock farming is the main economic activity of our people. If our livestock dies, we should be able to get compensation. The Address by the President talked about lack of electricity as a major hindrance to development. The idea of facilitating development of innovative and effective modalities to provide better off grid systems is very welcome. A large part of my constituency is not connected to electricity. Electricity goes along with internet and telephone connectivity. You cannot access the internet in the absence of electricity, given the importance of internet in this country. For those who are in business, most of the procurement process in the county and at the national level is done through the online system. If you are not connected to electricity and the internet, you may not be able to access those opportunities. Students who join university have to do their registration online. The plan of restructuring the NHIF and National Social Security Fund (NSSF) to make them better social insurances is a good idea that resonates very well with us. The most important point that I would like to mention is drought. The President mentioned that the response to drought for 3.5 million Kenyans who are affected is for 23 Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) or counties. He talked about mitigation as a solution to drought. That plan should go beyond mitigation and look at the adaption measures and how to deal with 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."
}