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{
    "id": 1368372,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1368372/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 280,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wamatinga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13582,
        "legal_name": "Wahome Wamatinga",
        "slug": "wahome-wamatinga"
    },
    "content": "the name of micro financing, but are milking Kenyans dry. They have become shylocks, giving assets to the youths in the pretext of helping them but exploiting them because the Banking Act does not regulate them. If we want to renegotiate some of the misfortunes that we have gotten into as a country; inability to create enough employment, effects of capital flights from the country and migration of investors to the neighbouring countries, we must start by addressing the Banking Act. We must start by putting the framework both in policy and legally to ensure that even young investors who access bank loans can do business without being charged high-interest rates and facing unfavourable terms and conditions of the loans. If the Government does not intervene, most of the young people are condemned to lose their assets. We have seen young families break up because of the financial crisis that these young investors have been forced to, not because they are not good enough, not because they lack business acumen but simply because we fail to put policies and frameworks in place that will be supportive, especially in the harsh economic times we are faced with. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, young investors cannot access loans and credit without having to pay the 20 per cent interest because the businesses they do cannot make 20 per cent profit. Some of them are even working with seven per cent, six per cent and at most 15 per cent profit. Therefore, it beats logic. How do we expect them to break even when we know that the cost of the money is far much higher than the profit that they are going to make? As if that it is not bad enough, we go ahead and put punitive measures in place through these institutions, which are unregulated. Once the people default, the second month their assets are repossessed. If anything, we have to be fair. The immovable assets like houses cannot be repossessed. Once you default, they are put under receivership. The money is collected and continues to service. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in the moveable assets, we see the auctioneers come, repossess and they charge you the money to dispose the things but at the same time you are still supposed to pay monthly. I do ask myself, where do these banking institutions think that you will get the money if they are holding the assets that you are supposed to generate money from? This is like double punishment. I think it cannot be fair in the eyes of the law that for the same thing you are punished multiple times. We are talking about creating the future of a young generation. However, it cannot be created if the laws that we have in place are very punitive. They discourage people who are enterprising even to come up with ideas that they can invent. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we know that agri-business is the future and the backbone of this country. However, we lack infrastructure policy framework and the legal framework in place, to ensure that once a young person engages in such a business, they are cautioned from the exploitative practices that we have from the banking sector. We have let this practise go on the way they want and they run the sector without the regulation from the Government. Therefore, this is why if you look in every newspaper, you will see mobile money being announced. People have got into these"
}