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{
    "id": 1506841,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1506841/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 345,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba North, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "nominated Members. They have understood their purpose as nominated Members, and they are doing very well. This Bill talks about two things which are very close to my heart – entrepreneurship and innovation. I am the founder of the Maiden Institute of Leadership, Law, Innovation and Entrepreneurship; the MILLIE Institute. The MILLIE Institute has several divisions, one of which is innovation, while the other one is entrepreneurship. I founded that institute because I know innovation and entrepreneurship are the future of this nation. Because of lack of formal Government jobs and the challenges that we are facing as a country, young people can rely on technology to not only create jobs for themselves, but also for others. The provision of such a framework is good for our young people. Due to lack of existing legal framework, our bright Kenyans are misusing their brains. Only this week, some Kenyans hacked into some financial systems. They were part of a group that stole billions of shillings. Imagine if the brains that were used to steal billions of shillings were used to create jobs. However, because we lack that framework, which includes tax holidays and other incentives, the only other option they think they have is to steal. That is why we need to create such framework to enable them to use their brains well. I will bring an amendment Bill to give awards to people with innovative ideas that offer solutions in society. For instance, during the last Parliament, I attended the annual World Bank Meeting in Washington D.C. If there is one thing that has been over-celebrated, it is M-Pesa. Kenya is always celebrated not only because of M-Pesa, but because of other technologies. I was recently talking to a group of Kenyans that I was training online. Because we currently feel that the country is facing many challenges, sometimes, we speak like we are in a dungeon. It is true that we are facing many challenges as a country. We must acknowledge that fact. But there are also very good things that are coming out of this country. One of them is M-Pesa. I know that because of legal reasons, Safaricom PLC may not want us to know who the M-Pesa innovator is. They do not want to be challenged in court through a lawsuit. However, from a moral perspective, I encourage them to let us know who that person is so that we can celebrate him as a country because he created something unique not just for Kenya, but for the whole world, which everybody is replicating. Because we do not celebrate our own when they do such good things, they use their talents for wrong purposes. By the same stroke, I request that Parliament considers forwarding the names of the Movers of this Bill for a presidential award because they have done an excellent job. I request that we consider Hon. Irene Mayaka and Sen. Asige for a presidential award for this excellent job. My other concern, which I have noticed is in the Bill, is the issue of intellectual property rights. Many of our young people come up with very good ideas but, because they do not have resources, they approach people who have resources for assistance, only for those people to turn against them and steal their ideas. Therefore, a strong intellectual property rights framework will cover them. That is why the Bill seeks to amend the Science, Technology and Innovation Act to ensure that innovators’ intellectual property rights are safeguarded."
}