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"id": 192696,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/192696/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Mwiria",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology",
"speaker": {
"id": 190,
"legal_name": "Valerian Kilemi Mwiria",
"slug": "kilemi-mwiria"
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"content": " Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute in support of the Budget that was read by the Minister for Finance. I would like to start by commending the Minister, as other hon. Members have done before me, for coming up with a Budget, which compared to many others before it, could be said to be more pro-poor than those others. In fact, I do believe that it is more pro-the disadvantaged regions than other Budgets before it. I am saying that aware of the criticisms you heard against the Budget, in view of what is happening in North Eastern Province. But, even just to start a Ministry that is going to co-ordinate the affairs of north eastern Kenya, is a beginning of accepting the fact that there is a problem, and that, that area deserves special attention. We need to do much more in terms of resources given to the region due to its vastness, but it is a good beginning. Madam Temporary Speaker, my main interest for contributing to this Motion is the issue of social and regional inequality. One of the themes of the Budget is to build a cohesive, equitable and prosperous Kenya. I would like to say that even though we are talking about money here, we need to put the generation of that money and its allocation in the context in which it has to be collected and distributed. Therefore, we cannot do justice to the Budget unless we discuss the political environment. That is why many hon. Members have spoken about the difficulties that confronted this country at the beginning of this year. It is important to have political stability because without it, there cannot be progress. We will not collect this money that we are talking about, neither can we use it. So, as much as it is an issue that is not necessarily about money, it is in many ways the most critical in terms of determining the extent to which we have enough resources to distribute, and the extent to which those resources are going to be used in the best way possible, or the extent to which those resources June 24, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1339 are going to be used to support areas that have been historically disadvantaged. Even the forgetting of those areas is more political than anything else. Without political stability, we cannot have any growth. That is why there was a major decline in growth in this country from 7 per cent to 2 per cent. There was an improvement over the years as we had a stable political system, but as we got into problems, there was a decline. Now we have to start the upward trend again. The main reason for that is that without stability there cannot be any growth. So, for me the most critical thing is not how much money you collect or use, but whether or not you are going to have political stability. In the last Government, we made gains because there was political stability and better leadership than there was before. As long as there is no stability, then there will be no growth. So, if this coalition has to be kept going for the sake of that growth, which will benefit more people than just a few politicians, we need to call for a lot of selflessness on the part of the people that are governing this country, be they Ministers, Assistant Ministers or Members of Parliament. That is why, if it power that you have to delegate for the country to be quiet and for there to be growth, then let us give it to those that would be quiet and let us go along. Even the problem of that instability did not have anything to do with the majority of the people. It took just a few people to set this country on fire. It just took President Mwai Kibaki and Mr. Raila Odinga to shake hands to end the conflict. So, really, these are political problems. But it is important for us to see them as that. Unless we, therefore, commit ourselves to realise that only we, as politicians, can solve most of these problems, then we are not going to get very far. It is, therefore, necessary to safeguard our unity. We are not going to safeguard it by sending contradictory signals from the same Government; arguing for this or that, or against some policies by Members of the same Government. I am saying that because I remember the problems of the last Government started with those kind of disagreements. Often, even those disagreements are not necessarily about whom the politicians are speaking about. It is usually never about that. It is about safeguarding the same selfish interests. In this regard, I think it is unfair to raise issues about not taking action against the problems of the Mau Forest or not resettling Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) because the real motivation has nothing to do with the people! It is just political slogans from people who well understand what the problem is. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I do hope that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past in terms of the divisions. Agreements get destroyed because of lack of honesty and integrity. If we did not have the disagreements that we had in 2003/2004; where people agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was not respected; where there was a Summit that was disbanded, we would not have had such a contested Referendum and an election that would have been so violent. The country would have progressed quite peacefully and we would be gaining those benefits. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I know that a lot has been spoken about the need to deal with regional inequality. Even part of the terms of reference for the Team - when we signed the Coalition Agreement - was that regional imbalance was one of the biggest problems. We talk about that as if it is a problem that we can resolve on a short-term; or as if inequality is about societies and not social groups. Even where you come from, Madam Chair, there are many rich men and women. But the majority of the people there are poor. The people in Rift Valley were complaining that there is regional imbalance; that there are parts of this country, like Central Kenya and others, that are doing much better than Rift Valley or Coast Province. But even in those communities, you will find that the majority of the people are poor. Even in the communities that are supposed to be disadvantaged, the problem is really between the rich and poor. That is why those who were the greatest victims of post-election 1340 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 24, 2008 violence--- Even in Rift Valley, the farms of the rich were never attacked! There was never any problem. In fact, they were very well guarded. So, we must appreciate the difficulties from a class and social perspective. That is because if we address those problems, we will create populations in those regions that can begin to improve the general welfare of those communities. Addressing that inequality, therefore, I think it is gratifying to know that we are putting in money in basic education, free secondary education, health, infrastructure, housing and so on. But we need to do more in terms of supporting strong affirmative action programmes. In the area of education, as we expand, we must make it possible for the majority of the poor to benefit from expanded education. That is because if we expand and the majority of the poor are still unable to take advantage of the best opportunities, it will still be the academies and the children of the rich. What does it matter if you have day schools from which our young people cannot make it to the universities? What is the point of youth employment programmes or the Youth Enterprise Development Fund if it is only Kshs1 million per constituency? What is the point of the Sports Fund if it is only Kshs1 million and it is not quite clear how those resources are used? Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is good for us to spend money in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) with BPO, PAC and so on. But I think if we really want to address the problem of the poor, we need to democratize it and ensure that many of our young people in our schools also have access to ICT. That is because if you go to many of our schools these days, only a few elite schools have computers. When you have computers and internet facilities, then you already intensify an advantage that you already enjoyed by virtue of where you were born and the kind of school you went to. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, so, firstly, as we talk about ICT, the majority of people of this country are not going to reap any benefits if we do not ensure that this commodity or service is in most of our public, primary and secondary schools. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, there must be fairness, and that has been spoken about, in terms of regions, constituencies and districts. I think it is unfair to allocate the same amount for sports money, that is Kshs1 million, to every constituency, irrespective of the population of the youth. It does not matter how many youth groups are there. It is unfair to allocate a similar amount of money to the districts, many of which, as we said, have been created politically without any serious rationalisation. For us to really achieve those standards, therefore, we need professional decision-making with regard to how we constitute our districts and constituencies. If necessary, we need to have an independent group, that is not political, that will help us re-draw our boundaries. They will be the basis for a time-bomb, if we do not address them now. It is a major problem. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, since I am running out of time, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}