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{
"id": 180950,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/180950/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Michuki",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Environment and Mineral Resources",
"speaker": {
"id": 183,
"legal_name": "John Njoroge Michuki",
"slug": "john-michuki"
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"content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, quite a few issues have been raised over this matter. The first one indicates that there is still doubt as to how much money is generated by that operation. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I mentioned a few things in my statement. One, is the limitation of how much each account can hold at any given time, and how much money can be transferred from that account. I mentioned a figure of Kshs50,000 and Kshs35,000. Secondly, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also talked about the measures we have taken to safeguard any likely suffering that the users of that system might have. It is true that those with bad intentions could misuse the system. But soon, there will be a system of checks. We have even had to pass a law here, but because fines and warnings are not sufficient, any person who issues a dude cheque which has no money will go to prison, and there is no alternative. That has come about because of experience. I said that the CBK and the Ministry of Finance are watching very carefully over that system. It is a new way of transferring money. We do not want to encourage innovations within the financial system because, as a country, we aim at being a financial hub for this region. But at the same time, I want to assure the House that we shall November 4, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3239 not compromise good management and fair systems that safeguard the interests of all. I think that deals with the questions raised by Mr. Mbadi by way of seeking clarifications. There was also a question on how much of that money is in circulation. It is in those accounts. I have no figure for the number of accounts that are existing. That is because we will just need that number to be multiplied by Kshs50,000. We will see how much money is involved! But, of course, as we talk about it here, we are publicising the system and, hopefully, sooner or later, we shall know the truth. I can bring those figures here later, but I do not have them here. All I know is that the account is restricted. You cannot transfer more than that money. You must be registered with a SIM Card. With the SIM Card, we have other ways of knowing whether you are transferring that money to a criminal or to somebody else, depending on how you talk about it. We will know at the end of the day! The fund, according to the questioner, is not a protection fund. It is a fund established between a bank and the operators of this system, for example Safaricom. Within that account controlled by the bank and Safaricom, the agents are allowed to withdraw a maximum of Kshs35,000 out of their account of Kshs50,000. So, we have not established a fund as yet to protect this system, because we must understand that it is part of the banking system, which is, on a daily basis, supervised by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK)."
}