Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1356838,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1356838/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 198,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tharaka, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. George Murugara",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "His Excellency the President gave a statesmanship address while composed and allayed the expectations of Kenyans on negativity and gave us hope. He spoke on a wide range of issues including the high cost of living. He confirmed that the only way we can reduce the cost of living is by subsidising production and emphasised on fertilisers and seeds for planting. He also spoke on the high debts the country has and which ones are increasing without borrowing. This is because our shilling is losing value against the international currencies including the dollar. We have to repay these debts otherwise if we default everybody will rank Kenya as a failed state. He spoke on petroleum products whose prices should come down. We expect this to happen in spite of the fact that the Government has no control on prices at the international level. It is important to say that he is a caring and listening President. This is because as he gave his Speech, we had just seen the legal notices from the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration, my constituent, Prof Kithure Kindiki. Kenyans were up in arms and there was hue and cry regarding the cost of services to Kenyans. We are happy to see that the Government listened to this and published recommended reductions which had to be subjected to public participation. This is what a listening and caring Government should do. There was a paragraph or two on employment, which is very important. Employment in the country as initiated by the President cannot come in any other way save through investments. This is why he has been visiting foreign countries so as to attract investments for our country and ensure our youth who are languishing in unemployment are able to secure jobs. It was important to speak about teachers, and he clearly mentioned that we have employed over 56,000 teachers whether interns or permanent and pensionable ones. These are young trained teachers who are going to classrooms to teach. Hope for the interns is that as soon as they complete their term of internships, they are able to secure jobs which are permanent and pensionable. The President mentioned about housing and we have all seen the edifices coming up across the country; beautiful houses which will be sold to Kenyans so we can move towards modern living. This is very important. He also mentioned about the Financial Inclusion Fund or Hustler Fund. It is doing wonders in the country and people are borrowing and repaying so the Fund is revolving as required. As Members of Parliament, we should encourage Kenyans to borrow this money, make prudent use of it and repay so others can benefit. We heard about health and we do not have to go very far. Let us talk about the Community Health Promoters (CHPs) who are extremely important. This is a milestone in the way we are doing things because the CHPs are required at the grassroots level to attend to minor ailments afflicting our people there. There was a paragraph on foreign relations which is very important because we live in a global community where we must relate very well with other countries in the universe. We have heard some Kenyans complaining that the President has made too many trips abroad. We must make friends in the globe and attract other countries to invest in our country. This way we grow our economy and jobs. I submit it is welcome for the President to be visiting these countries. A little bit offline is the issue of Haiti where our police officers are supposed to go and bring order to that country. This has been debated in all quarters and levels. What clearly came out is that Kenya has not volunteered itself but the international community asked us to send our police officers to Haiti so they can help that country to get law and order. Our police officers are more than willing to go there. We are not incurring any expenses but training them and we have done so before. They have gone to other countries to provide the required peace. We have had our forces go to other countries and they have done a fantastic job including in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Europe and everywhere else. We were in Bosnia and Herzegovina and now as we speak, we are back in Somalia and DRC Congo. 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."
}