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{
    "id": 1484939,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1484939/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 201,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Ojiambo Oundo",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "At times, people get discouraged and matters are overtaken by events. I echo his sentiment. The Members who sit in the House Business Committee must find a way of expediting Bills, so that they are processed and meet the exigent needs that exist at that particular time. I can remember I heard of this Bill in the last Parliament. It is almost probably four or so years down the line. Whatever it aimed at addressing could as well have already been addressed through legislation, the various amendments that we made in the Finance Bill and various succession measures. There are three important matters the Bill intends to address. It addresses the issue of Safaricom, a mobile telephone company that essentially doubles up as a money transfer business. Number two, it seeks to address the issue of call dropping, where calls drop because of telecommunication challenges. Number three, it expands the use of the Universal Service Fund to ensure that more factors are considered. The intention is good, but I am not so sure whether there are any Kenyans at this particular time who would want to interfere with M- Pesa. It has become part and parcel of the people of this country. It is tied to Safaricom at the hip. Trying to separate and ensure it runs separately would increase the cost of money transfer because if they are 100 per cent regulated by the banks, we know the bureaucracy and the difficulties in accessing funds from the bank. It is going to become extremely difficult. Hon. Temporary Speaker, we have seen the Hustler Fund. On its own, it is almost on its death-bed because it did not borrow the model of Safaricom. They thought they would kill M-Pesa and M-Shwari by bringing the Hustler Fund. But because of the trust Kenyan people have in Safaricom and related money transfer services, it has become difficult to compete. I agree that it is a very noble idea from a theoretical business point of view. But we must also look at the historical context. From the point of view of the reality on the ground, how do we insulate the cost? How do we ride on existing infrastructure of Safaricom to ensure the process is efficient, easier and less expensive? I would invite him, as Hon. Beatrice Elachi has said, to probably reflect a little longer about it so that when it comes to the Committee of the whole House, we will realign the amendments to match the reality on the ground. The second issue that I want to address is one of the penalties for call cuts after connection by Ksh10 worth of airtime for each call drop. This is going to be a cumbersome provision and an onerous one that will be incapable of being implemented to the benefit of the intended people. Probably, we could look at it the other way like we did many years back. We would find the Safaricom network in some parts of the country while in others we only had the Airtel network. In other places, one had to climb to the top of a tree to access a network while in others, one had to touch some body parts for the network to function. So, probably, we could also ask the mobile telecommunication companies to be very clear and issue a disclaimer of localities they are unable to provide telephone services. Asking them to pay for dropped calls is just extremely expensive and onerous. I also invite him to reflect so that we define it in such a way that if a telecommunications company purports to have national coverage but in some places, there is no coverage, actually then the penalties should go to a common pool so that we can improve the network coverage in all the parts of the country. It should go to a central pool so that we can use it to do other things towards this matter. Finally, let me comment on the issue of the Universal Fund that he has proposed in Clause 5. On the functions, it says, 60 per cent of the Fund shall be used for ensuring the availability of telecommunication services to all consumers, including those in low-income and rural areas. On affordability, any telecom company is in business. It is only going to serve where it makes money. In any case, it is in business. We do not want again the Government to enter into business. The business of the Government is not being in business. Again, the Fund should be used to ensure that there is a telecommunication network or telecommunication in all areas. 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."
}