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{
    "id": 181652,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/181652/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 272,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Wamalwa",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 148,
        "legal_name": "Eugene Ludovic Wamalwa",
        "slug": "eugene-wamalwa"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to second this very important Motion. I want to thank the Minister for Energy for being in the House. When the matter came up, there was a lot of interest in this Question, but there was not enough time. This is something that touches on every Kenyan, the lowly and the mighty. In every corner of Kenya, everyone is feeling the pinch. Even the worker and the farmer in the field, who is not able to plough because the cost of ploughing an acre has doubled. Last year, ploughing an acre of land cost about Kshs1,200, but now it has doubled. The cost of hiring a tractor to plough five acres of land is far beyond the capacity of many farmers. The prices of petroleum affect many aspects of our human life; whether in the First World or the Third World, we are all affected. You will find that it touches on everything, and translates into increasing the cost of living; this is because when any goods are manufactured, the manufacturing cost goes up as the result of high fuel prices. Whether it is ordinary items in the house that are eaten or the fertilizer used for planting in the farm, or transport cost for going to work or school, the cost of everything has gone up. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we raised the issue regarding the farmers of this country recently and the Minister of Agriculture assured us that the price of fertiliser that had skyrocketed from Kshs1,800 to Kshs4,000 in May and now, it has gone up to Kshs6,500, would come down by last Friday because of the subsidised rates. Yesterday, we asked the Minister the same question and he said they still intend to import the subsidised fertiliser. We wondered what happened to the resignation. It is all part of the high cost of petroleum everywhere in the world that has caused the price of fertiliser to go up. Since we live in a world that has become a global village, we know what is happening. We know the price of crude oil per barrel had gone up to US$147 per barrel as Mr. Baiya has said. That was way back in June. The prices have come down. As we speak now, the prices have gone down to US$64 per barrel. Everything has remained the same. The prices have changed but the high cost of living remains the same. Kenyans still continue to suffer under the burden of very high prices. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the monopoly of this company still continues to burden Kenyans. What are we hearing from the Government? Threats? We have heard Ministers, including the October 29, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3111 Prime Minister, begging or threatening these multinationals but no solid action has been taken and nothing has been done to date. Kenyans remain at the mercy of these multinationals. They continue to suffer. It is saddening to hear what is happening out there. Kenyans have had to forego meals because they cannot afford them. Kenyans have to walk for many kilometres to get to work because they cannot afford to board vehicles to get to work. As I drive to work every day, I see many Kenyans walking from Kawangware all the way to Industrial area to seek their daily bread for themselves and their families and it is a saddening thing. We need to do something to ensure that Kenyans are able to lead dignified lives and should not continue suffering under the burden of this very high cost of living because a few unscrupulous businessmen are unwilling to lower the prices when it is common knowledge that the price of crude oil throughout the world has gone down. With those few remarks, I wish to support this very important Motion."
}