Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 1502272,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502272/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 189,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kathiani, WDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Robert Mbui",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. There is a technical hitch with the system. I rise to add my voice and not to praise the Address by His Excellency the President. I hesitate to paint a rosy picture because the public is unhappy. Numbers do not lie. When we talk about the economy, we cannot tell the public we are doing so well when people cannot meet their basic needs. Under the current regime taxes have increased, so there is less spending power. Despite that, there is very little development going on in this country. We heard that Kenya's exchange rate dropped. Before this regime came into power, the exchange rate was 1USD at Ksh123 but now it is Ksh129. How is that a drop? When this regime came into power, they pushed it up to 1USD at Ksh160. So, when they sorted out the mess they had created, they said it had dropped. It is not a drop, especially when we compare this regime with the previous one. We were told that inflation is at a low of 2.7 percent. This is a simple calculation that we need to understand. Inflation is about the price of goods and services. When people have no money to spend, you cannot raise prices. This is because prices are set by the law of demand and supply. If there is no money to spend, there is no demand. Therefore, prices cannot go up and so inflation improves. I do not think our economy is doing well. On education, the University Funding Model has failed Kenyans. Our children do not know whether they will do examinations at the end of the year. This is because many of them have not received their money. The lecturers were on strike and I am happy that was sorted out. When the Cabinet Secretary for Education came to the House, he talked about 100 per cent transition next year. He told us that they are putting up 16,000 classes. Then on Saturday, he was talking about 18,000 classes. I started wondering what to believe: what he said in the House on Wednesday, or what he said in a public b araza on Saturday. These are two different figures. The reality is that there are more schools than the number of classes being put up. They are not even talking about the JSS laboratories and workshops for science and technical subjects. On the issue of housing, His Excellency the President told us that there are very many houses ready for purchase by Kenyans. These houses are built on public land using taxpayers' money. So, why is the Government selling them? Why not have people ballot then give the lucky ones? This is like building a road using taxpayers' money and then putting up a toll and charging. For the houses that have been built, let Kenyans ballot. You cannot sell something built with our money. If it is my money, it becomes my house. The President’s Address also mentioned something about our national values and principles of good governance. First, is Article 10(2)(a) of the Constitution regarding democracy and the rule of law. Government agencies have been weaponised against Kenyans. I want to give an example of former President Uhuru Kenyatta. His own son was harassed for being in possession of firearms which he had been given in a legal manner. We have weaponised the security systems. Under Article 37 of our Constitution, the youth came to Parliament to give their opinion. The young man who was shot outside Parliament was from my constituency. Tens of young people… The future of this country has been killed using Government bullets. How was that a good State of the Nation Address? On the rule of law, this"
}