Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 175458,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/175458/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 242,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Midiwo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 184,
        "legal_name": "Washington Jakoyo Midiwo",
        "slug": "jakoyo-midiwo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me a couple of minutes to air my support for this noble Motion. On the issue of price control, right now in the whole world, governments are subsidising prices on food commodities. In Kenya, we are waiting for the people to make noise. This is a situation that the Executive must take seriously because people cannot eat air. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, three years ago, the cost of a gallon of diesel was Kshs38 and now it is Kshs100. Every time a Question comes before Parliament, the reasoning is flimsy and yet our people are really suffering. The cost of paraffin has risen. It is now cheaper to cook using firewood than using paraffin. The situation is untenable because we have three to four multinationals making a kill out of importation of fuel. Something must be done to force the multinational looters because even in their own countries of origin, they have been forced to reduce their prices. Last month, I was in the United States of America (USA) and they said that the cost of gas per gallon went up to US$4.50 but because the Government cares, it is now US$1.80. That was two months later. Ours tripled and nobody cared. If you talk to the Minister and the players, they also do not care. We in the Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade have called the players and asked them to be sensitive to the plight of our people but we are not getting the support of the Executive. That to me, is something the Minister for Energy must be held 3994 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES December 10, 2008 accountable for. This is because nothing stops the Government today, from going to the National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK) and telling it to sell gas at Kshs50 per gallon or a litre. However, because we have turned ourselves into a man-eat-man society, do not care about the plight of our people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Government must do something. The planting season is coming soon and there is drought all over the country. We must do something about the cost of fertiliser which we are importing. The other day I heard the Minister for Agriculture say in a Press conference that fertiliser will retail at around Kshs3,500 per bag when it was retailing under Kshs2,000 per bag the other day. How can we expect cheaper food prices if we are not vigilantly controlling the price of farm inputs? In this year's Budget, there is a mischief about a company called KenRen. It is a non- existent fertiliser factory in this country. In the Budget, it was forced and put in there for Kshs400 million. Kenya does not have a fertiliser factory. I wonder what the Ministry of Finance was trying to do with that Kshs400 million because I know we will be watching to see where they are seeking to invest this money. They could use that money to build a fertiliser factory in a transparent way but not in a white elephant project. With those very many remarks, I wish to support."
}