HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 192192,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/192192/?format=api",
"text_counter": 201,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Obure",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Public Works",
"speaker": {
"id": 118,
"legal_name": "Christopher Mogere Obure",
"slug": "christopher-obure"
},
"content": " Thank you very much, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. Your ruling is absolutely correct. I would like to confirm to you that we have conveyed these sentiments to the Ministry of Finance and I am optimistic that they will be here in a very short while. I was saying that I am grateful to the Minister for Finance because, in his proposal, he has come up with various initiatives to address the huge challenges facing this country. The removal of VAT on basic foodstuffs is a very welcome move, in my view. However, I think that a reduction of tax on fuel would have had a much greater impact on the economy as a whole. A reduction of fuel tax would, in fact, have had a spiral effect on the prices of other commodities across the board. That would have been a much more desirable move, in my view. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we are all aware of the events that took place in the months of January and February this year. These events are vivid in our minds. It is, therefore, my view that any Government policies and any actions must be aimed at addressing the fundamental challenges which threaten Kenya's peace and stability. It is important that all policies and actions be aimed at addressing those factors that threaten our peace and stability. I will identify the major threat as the deep poverty which has afflicted many of our people. The massive unemployment amongst our youth is a huge challenge to this nation. Inequalities in income distribution and the imbalances in the rate of development in our various regions are also serious threats. With respect to addressing the question of inequalities in income distribution and imbalances in regional development, I feel that this can be addressed much more effectively if we all agree to adopt the policy of a devolved Government. We need to devolve funds to regions in an equitable manner. That will address this question of imbalances which is one of our major challenges in this country. Right now we have an avenue through which we can address this problem while we address the question of whether we accept or do not accept devolution. We now have CDF money going to constituencies. Personally, I think we should increase the rate of contributions being made through the CDF because that is one of the most effective ways to address inequalities in regional development. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, with regard to the issue of youth unemployment, I am grateful that the Minister, in this particular year more than any other year before, has taken very deliberate and concrete steps to empower the youth economically. The proposal to amend the Armed Forces Act to allow the recruitment of people into the Police, the Administration Police, the General Service Unit (GSU), Army and so on, is a welcome move in my view. This is something that should have been done many years ago. I do not know why it was not done. However, the fact June 25, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1387 that some initiative is being taken in that direction is most welcome. The move to employ teachers because we have many youths who have completed teacher-training colleges and have been out there for the last several years is welcome. The fact that a provision has been made to employ those teachers is a very welcome thing. It will relieve the pressure on unemployed teachers around the country. The establishment of an internship scheme is also a very welcome move. We think that, that should be extended. In fact, the Government should come up with a scheme of service to incorporate internship as a measure of joining the public sector. The internship programme should not be restricted to teachers only. It should be extended to engineers, agricultural graduates, veterinary graduates, nurses and all the other professions. It should be made part of our scheme of service for that category of professionals. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, if we acknowledge that poverty is a serious threat to our security and stability, we must be prepared to invest higher levels of resources in sectors where we would have the greatest possible impact in our fight against that menace. I am of the view that the sector in which we must invest more resources is agriculture. Allocation of funds to agriculture is far less than what is required. I am proposing that more funds should be allocated to that sector in order to enhance food production to feed the increasing population, acquire better, more effective and more appropriate technology to improve agricultural productivity. In the face of declining parcels of land because of sub-divisions, the only way we can achieve sufficient food production is to increase productivity. We should make agricultural credit available even to the extent of accepting to introduce a farmers bank. That will make funds available to farmers when they need it. We should invest more in water and irrigation so that we can bring more marginal land into production. That is very critical if we are going to address our food requirements and the question of poverty. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am concerned about the tea and coffee sectors. We all know that tea and coffee sectors have been the leading foreign exchange earners for our country in the past several years. Those sectors have provided earnings and employment opportunities to thousands of people in the rural areas. The two cash crops are vehicles for alleviating poverty. In fact, they are very effective vehicles for alleviating poverty in the rural areas. But what has happened in the past few years? What we have witnessed is dwindling of earnings. Earnings have drastically come down, especially in the area of tea. The tea sector has been hit very adversely. It is grossly mismanaged, in my view and, especially, the small-scale sector. Some of the directors serving at the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) as well as some of the senior management staff in that organisation are doing business with factory companies which they manage. They own the tea broking companies which sell tea on behalf of small-scale farmers. There is, therefore, direct conflict of interest in relation to the functions that they are expected to perform. They cannot manage those factories. They cannot supervise the KTDA factory operations if their personal interests are in conflict with their functions. They cannot, therefore, champion the interests of the farmers. They cannot steer the industry to levels where the tea industry can be competitive viz-a-vis our competitors from Sri Lanka, Vietnam and other areas. I, therefore, hope that the Minister for Agriculture will understand the frustrations of the farmers. Farmers who wanted the sector to be liberated a few years ago now want the Government to intervene and take over the industry. Farmers need to be assisted. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}