HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 1443335,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1443335/?format=api",
"text_counter": 105,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abass",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13587,
"legal_name": "Abass Sheikh Mohamed",
"slug": "abass-sheikh"
},
"content": "produce food and employ themselves. For those who have excess land, please, give it back to Kenyans. If we want to have land for future harvest and get more money, then it is the right time to we do land redistribution. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we need to create employment. This does not mean that people must be employed only in offices. We can have employment in many ways such as self-employment. If you give young men and women some money to go and do business, you will see them all over Nairobi Central Business District (CBD). We have so many stores that are run by these same group and they are doing very well. They travel all the way to China and Dubai to bring in commodities. However, the problem is that when they get to the airport, they are taxed and harassed and, therefore, cannot make profits. We need to improve and give incentives to those who are working hard to bring their commodities here. These are all Kenyans not outsiders. Small goods that have been brought by the youth are taxed. The airport has become a place to harass people. Investors are running away from us and going to our neighbors. Taxation does not make the country rich. So, we should improve on the creation of employment. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, corruption is a cancer in this country, done with impunity such that we do not know where to run to. Even in this Parliament, when we call the corrupt governors accused of stealing money to the committees, the Auditor- General and Controller of Budget (CoB) bring their reports, and it ends there. There are no follow-ups, prosecution or anything and the impunity continues. We need to do better in this country. Colleagues, as leaders, we need to be a bit serious. We must be responsible and answerable to the public that elected us. This country needs heavy investment. I know there are many loans that we have borrowed without proper planning. We need to go back to the drawing board and see how best we can create jobs. Learning institutions are dead; education is obsolete. Today, there is a new curriculum every 10 years such as the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) or the 844. Our neighbors, Uganda and Tanzania have had the same curriculum for years. If the curriculum has to change, we have to change to a job creation kind. That is, our universities should change their curriculum and look at the Information Technology (IT), the markets and other things that can at least create jobs for the youth. However, we are following up obsolete curriculum that will not help this country. Education is becoming unaffordable. It is just unnecessarily expensive. Healthcare is very expensive. Not every Kenyan can afford treatment because everything is commercialized. If you go to the pharmacy, there is no control of prices. If you go to a doctor, they charge you expensively. The poor man and lady cannot afford healthcare. We have been told that we are going to be given free healthcare and yet, the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) is almost dead. It has now become a place for getting money for the politicians. Every campaign time, money is withdrawn and misused. You pay for healthcare and yet, you do not have drugs in the hospitals. We have devolved health functions and yet, Kshs126 billion is given to the Ministry of Health in the new budget. Where are they taking all that money and they only have the level six and five hospitals? The functions of the rest have gone to the counties and yet, the money is being held at the national level. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}