Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 193412,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/193412/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 211,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Eng. Rege",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 135,
        "legal_name": "James Kwanya Rege",
        "slug": "james-rege"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the Budget Speech. I would like to join my previous colleagues in supporting the Budget as it was presented by the Minister. Nonetheless, I feel we, as Parliamentarians, were shortchanged because we were not consulted in its preparation. I am a lawmaker. I believe my input would have been considered in the preparation of the Budget. I was elected to come to this Parliament by a majority votes of 56,000. If all of us legislators pass this Budget without criticising it, we will simply be used as rubber-stamps. I feel that our input would have made a big difference to the Budget. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, many of us here represent rural constituencies. Therefore, we should have been consulted in preparation of this Budget because we know the needs of our constituents, especially now we are looking forward to achieve our goals in Vision 2030. Today, this Government has set aside Kshs10 billion to import food. If we irrigate 200 to 400 square kilometres of land around Lake Victoria, we will have adequate food on a permanent basis rather than importing food to last us for one year. I am sure we can use the waters of lake Victoria for our irrigation and domestic requirements. Since I was born I have never seen a drop of piped water in my constituency although we have had a water project for years. Most of the time here is spent on empty rhetoric. Our constituents do not want to hear rhetoric. They would like to see us work for them. If we put dams along all the rivers feeding lake Victoria, we will have enough water for irrigation and domestic use. It is a pity that we keep on lamenting that the Egyptian Government cannot allow us to use the waters of Lake Victoria for irrigation because of an outdated treaty. Why? We do not have to care about them because we are not party to that treaty. We should go ahead and make use of that water. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, today Lake Victoria is choked with water hyacinth. Hyacinth is impeding to fishing activities on this lake. We all know that fishing earns this country over Kshs430 million as foreign exchange. If we could get rid of hyacinth in lake Victoria, then we would earn more foreign exchange. Roads leading to the shores where these fish are obtained, are in dire need of rehabilitation. We need to tarmac them so that we will be able to transport our fish to various markets in the country. In 2005, President Kibaki came to Kendu-Bay and ordered that refrigeration facilities be installed along the lake in order to store our fish. Nothing has been done to date. So, this was just rhetoric. Nobody dared to follow up that directive. The roads that lead to the fishing areas in my constituency are in bad shape. The Minister allocated them a meagre Kshs2 million. That money is not even enough to tarmac a kilometre of the road. Are we really serious with our Budget? If we are serious with Vision 2030, I think we should start on a clean slate. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Minister for Finance did a very good job in allocating Kshs1 million per constituency for starting soccer clubs in the constituencies. This is a laudable move. However, I think he should have doubled that amount, so that even netball clubs could be started in our constituencies. The constituencies cannot only cater for soccer for the youth. 1264 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 18, 2008 Youth are know to engage in various sports activities. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we are in the era of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) and we know that it is the backbone of development of any country. However, the Minister allocated it a paltry 0.3 per cent of our Budget. I will talk more about ICT on the Vote on Account for every Ministry. I know that for every one per cent of ICT development in any country, brings about with it, three per cent of economic development, but this has not been addressed. That is why I am saying we, as legislators, should have be consulted in the preparation of the national Budget. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}