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{
    "id": 174558,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/174558/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 81,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Nyammo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 117,
        "legal_name": "Francis Thombe Nyammo",
        "slug": "francis-nyammo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the Speaker for having taken us from very far. I remember that from the day we first came here to be sworn in and undertook to elect our Speaker, this country saw nothing but pessimism. As soon as we elected the Speaker, he gave optimism to Kenyans. We should, therefore, acknowledge that particular fact. Since then, the Speaker has guided us well. As far as the media is concerned, I would like to tell Kenyans that Members of Parliament are not demons as they have been painted by the media. We are responsible people. We care for December 17, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 4193 Kenya and everybody in this country. I would like to ask the media to practise responsible journalism. They should get away from cheque book journalism that the highest bidder is the one to be reported or misreported. Kenya is ours, including the people from the media. Why do they choose to paint Kenya in black all the time and more so, this Kenya National Assembly? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have many problems, but I am proud to say that if we continue with the spirit we displayed during the passing of the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, we shall go very far. I am proud to be associated with this process. I request my colleagues to keep up with that spirit. We have problems with our youth. I have said here before that our youth are a product of our system of education. That system of education has ignored skills and discipline and has opted for numbers. As a result, we have a disconnect between the numbers we churn out of institutions of higher learning and the numbers being absorbed by the economy. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is time this country sat back and asked: What skills do we have in the country? We have the Vision 2030; what skills do we have to drive it? That is the only way we have enough reasons to tell our universities and institutions of higher learning that these are the gaps. Give us more doctors, lawyers and engineers. However, as it is, I think we are asking our institutions of higher learning to grope in the dark by training and producing graduates who are literally unemployable. We are the ones creating the problem. I think we need to look at our educational system with a view to changing everything to look at what we require and not how many graduates we can churn out. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other thing is that as we proudly speak about free primary and secondary education, the country is crying about shortage of teachers. Why do we not make things succeed? If it is free primary eduction, let us make sure that every school with a given number of children has adequate teachers. Let us stop talking about numbers. Let us get primary and secondary schools staffed adequately with a view to preparing our youth for a better Kenya. I can go on and talk about even the shame we are undergoing of lack of food. I do not know what it is but we are a country that should be a net exporter of food and not an importer of food. We should be proud of saying that all the food potential areas are served with good road network, water and so on. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I understand that I am short of time but I say that I am proud that we are in the National Assembly---"
}