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{
    "id": 1533700,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1533700/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 1014,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Laikipia North, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Sarah Korere",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13134,
        "legal_name": "Sara Paulata Korere",
        "slug": "sara-paulata-korere"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I also want to add my voice to the Budget Policy Statement (BPS). Many people have spoken about the inequalities in this country. We have to amplify our voices on the same. I say so because I, honestly, believe that the BPS before us is going to address the inequalities that have been witnessed in this country since time immemorial. Equity and inequality are two different things. When we come to this Parliament, we are told that money is allocated equally to all constituencies when we know very well that we are not equal. If today you come to Laikipia County, in general, it is 9,600 square kilometres. Laikipia North as a constituency is 5,600 square kilometres. It is bigger than Laikipia West and East combined. When you look at the 22 per cent of the money on roads, we are allocated the same money with a constituency in Central Kenya, say Murang’a or Kiambu, where the Member of Parliament can wake up one day and go around the whole constituency before midday and come to attend the sessions in this Parliament. You wonder where the equity is. It is very, very unequal. That is why, in this era, in the 21st Century, in northern Kenya, in Laikipia North, when people are talking of stock exchange, we are still talking of stock theft. Why? When the money for low-cost boarding is being reduced and when Government officials who have no idea what children in northern Kenya go through to go to school, just sit down and make a blanket statement that they are going to abolish boarding schools, including in northern Kenya, it is pathetic. You cannot budget more money to feed prisoners and reduce money to feed our school-going children. The other thing is this: Even the wastage in Government offices is budgeted for. I seriously hope and pray that this BPS is going to address the waste. In this era, some people are still dependent on relief food, queuing to receive three kilos of rice and a kilo of beans so that they can eat today, while God takes care of them tomorrow. It is demeaning. There are well-wishers and Members of Parliament who donate food and pose for pictures with the very poor people, and then post them on Facebook and WhatsApp. It is demeaning to those people. This country is in a position to pump money into the agricultural sector and production. Livestock keeping is not backward but, for a very long time, it has not been looked into as an economic way of life that can uplift the economy of this country. When I look at the budget for livestock, I can see a lot of reductions. Beef is a billion-dollar industry. We know that Kenyans love nyama choma, which does not grow on trees. Beef is got from cows and goats. Sheep also provide meat. I truly believe that this Budget Policy Statement (BPS) is going to address that. Finally, let me speak about stalled projects. We see new projects coming up. When you go, for example, in..."
}