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{
    "id": 1459668,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1459668/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 290,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sotik, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Francis Sigei",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to also support this Bill. At the outset, I would like to say that this is a very progressive Bill. I thank the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee for the wonderful job they have done. More importantly, I thank the Chairman for the straight, clear and articulate manner in which he addressed the House on these issues. I want to mention a few things which I believe have come out clearly in this Bill. One, is the issue of subsidised fertilisers. I thank the President of this country for deciding to give subsidised fertilisers not only to maize farmers but to all sectors in the agricultural economy. It is published in all the newspapers of yesterday and today that we now have a bumper harvest in this country. I am particularly talking about maize. We have a lot of maize in the Rift Valley and other parts of the country. We were able to get a bumper harvest. Food security is an issue which was giving us a lot of problems. That problem has been addressed. What I would like the President to address regarding this Budget is the issue of buying maize, which is in surplus. For many years, the farmers who have been dealing with maize have been having a very raw deal for the mere fact that whenever they have a surplus of this produce, disposing it profitably becomes a problem. They do not get value of their money. I would like to ask the Budget and Appropriations Committee to address this issue. I am also very grateful for dairy farming. This Budget has addressed the issue of subsidizing dairy farming and price stabilization. It has been stated by the Head of State that the price of a litre of milk in this country will not go below Ksh50. Our farmers are therefore going to be very happy with this Bill. I once again thank the Chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee for addressing the issue of salary review for police officers. I sit in the Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Affairs. We were really disheartened when we had a big cut on security. I want to tell you and this House that police officers work under duress yet we know that they are very important officers in this country. I can also attest to the fact that our police officers are doing a good job. We had a lot of scepticism when our officers were leaving for Haiti. The officers are doing a fantastic job out there. We have, in fact, seen that they tackled the gangs that were in the streets in that country. We now need to address other issues concerning our officers. They live in pathetic situations. The houses they live in are in pathetic and horrible conditions. We need to address the issue of housing in the next Budget. We also had an issue with officers living outside the police stations. Again, we also want to address the issue of the officers who have not had uniforms. Uniforms is an issue that needs to be addressed. Regarding the issue of wastage, we need to seal the loopholes. This is because there is a lot of money that is going to waste. The Government should look at these loopholes and address them. I want to also mention the issue of public debt. When signing loan agreements with foreign nations or international organisations like the IMF and the World Bank, we need to thoroughly look at what is involved and the interest thereof. We should also have public participation so that we know what we are signing for. In the past we have had instances where loans were taken without knowing the details. I would like to see an audit of the loans that Kenya has borrowed so that we know what is happening. We also need to look at the issue of employment. When the Gen-Zs came to Parliament, there were pertinent issues that they raised. Unemployment is a big issue we need to address. Therefore, we need to look at the issue of direct foreign investment in this country. We need to 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."
}