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{
    "id": 1259652,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1259652/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 42,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dadaab, WDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Farah Maalim",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "If you are going to change that and have prudence in the management of public finances, we can go on an ambitious infrastructural development in this country, put up industries and do all sorts of things to ensure that we have an economy that is growing at a fast rate. A few years after we gained Independence, South Korea, a country I visited, and I had an opportunity of undertaking my Masters in Business Administration at one of their top universities, had only sea weed those days. It was the only resource that the country had. At the time of Independence, they got a very brilliant General called ‘Park Chun-Hee’, who took them through a coup but then came to Kenya, borrowed US$1 million from the first President of this country and used that money to travel the whole world, negotiated loans with all the developed world, sent 3,000 young South Koreans to go and study critical fields such as engineering and went back. Today, their GDP is UD$2.4 trillion while ours is US$100 billion. He did not steal. When you have a political class that is the richest and when you have the wealthiest person and the richest family is the President's family, the second richest is the second, and the third is the third richest and progressively like that, people would not have to invest in industries. They invest in politics. We have got 20 million acres of idle land, but most of it is grabbed by politically connected people. We have a farming community in this country that can turn things around. Take back that land and allocate it to five or one million farmers in Kenya. Each has a family of 10 or 8; and you will see how the economy will go over the roof. They will produce and produce big time. We had a coffee industry in which we used to produce 143,000 tonnes 30 years ago. Today, we produce less than 42,000 tonnes. Why? Because the political class became millers, middlemen, brokers and kept feeding on the poor Kenyans. While our coffee was sold for Ksh2,000 or Ksh3,000 outside, they were paid Ksh50 for a kilogramme. The coffee farmers have gone to hell because of none other than a Government that was there. If this country wants to develop; if we are serious as Members of Parliament who can legislate in this country and change things without any fear or favour with patriotism, we can change this country for the better in the shortest time possible time. This is if we do the right things. 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."
}