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{
    "id": 1353413,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1353413/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 279,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Makueni WDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Suzanne Kiamba",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I also wish to add my voice on this particular Report and thank the Committee for the comprehensive highlights. I also thank the 12th Parliament for having created such a committee that can give the House some feedback on economic issues and debt in our country. However, I hope such kinds of presentation in committees will not be a ritual or a presentation that will not change our realities. As I sat, I listened to the issues raised by Members and they were all mourning. Everybody is saying very clearly that debt is not bad, but mismanaged debt imprisons everybody and that is where we are in this country. I sat down and wondered, if in this country we have so many economists, how come we do not know our comparative advantage? What is it that we can do well and excel? We seem to be doing everything and almost nothing. Our economists should have sat down and identified what we are good at that can add value and earn us the foreign exchange that we need. It is time we woke up. I realise that the 13th Parliament is not awake because we are still talking about a high level of debt and being broke. Looking at our major projects like the Universal Health Care (UHC) and housing, they do not grow the economy. I am not saying Kenyans should not get treatment, but we are spending a lot of money on projects that do not grow the economy. So, we are still asleep. I expected us to be talking about investment in agriculture, which can bring foreign exchange. The cotton, sugarcane and rice industries are completely dead. What is alive? The best idea we have is building houses for Kenyans so that they can be comfortable. What will they be eating? How will they seek treatment? They will be sick every day because of not eating well. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I do not think the 13th Parliament has woken up. We should wake up to the reality because only a few of us can come to this House. Let us make very strategic decisions which will change our mourning to prosperity so that Kenyans can thrive. One thing which has led us to cycles of not prospering is party politics. While they are very important, when we start making our parties to be like religions without a clear agenda on what to deliver in this country, I think we are getting it wrong. Parties should have ideologies that will advance the welfare of all Kenyans. When they resort to religious rituals and movements without having their people in mind, they make us continue mourning in poverty without clear strategies on how to move this country forward. Looking at the manufacturing industry, we are still importing matchboxes. How can we import matchboxes and expect to have foreign exchange? We better sleep in shelters and have matchboxes to sell to South Sudan and get foreign currency. I am challenging our economists and all planners that we need to be honest with ourselves. We need to sit down and look at how to make this country prosper. Given our geo-positioning, Kenya should be a very prosperous country because we can easily get produce which we can..."
}