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{
    "id": 195492,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/195492/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 157,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. J. Onyancha",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister, Ministry of State for National Heritage and Culture",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 127,
        "legal_name": "Joel Omagwa Onyancha",
        "slug": "joel-onyancha"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to also support this very important Motion. We are coming from a unique situation after undergoing post- election violence in this country which was unforeseen and unprecedented. We have seen prices of commodities going up. We know our people are still suffering in the IDP camps. It is, therefore, clear to us that having been through that kind of situation, it is even commendable for the Minister to have put up together these Supplementary Estimates very quickly after forming a Grand Coalition, so that programmes of the Government can move on. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the best way to be able to sort out prices that are shooting up is to move our people from the IDPs camps. Those were people who were feeding themselves. It is a pity that they are now languishing in those camps. Many people have come up with suggestions on how this should be done. We need to beef up security in those places where they came from. The pertinent question we should be asking ourselves is: They need security from who? Just like my colleagues have suggested, as leaders and parliamentarians, if we decided today that we will speak to our people about resettling or allowing those people who were evicted from April 30, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 805 their own land to go back, that would be done very fast and there would be no issue. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have been talking about the land question and how it should be addressed. I am aware that this is being resolved through the various organs that have been put together. In Kisii, land is scarce. That is why my people have moved out of Kisii to settle elsewhere in the country. We shall never ever solve problems in this country by talking about settling and resettling people. There will never be enough land for all of us. The quicker we recognise this fact, the better it will be for this country. Let us try to gear our economy towards industrialization, so that we sort out many of the problems being caused by land issues. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we welcome the Grand Coalition Government. People have spoken about the Government being expensive. Personally, I think nothing can be more expensive than a state of war. So, I welcome the new Cabinet line-up. I believe that they will be funded properly, so that they can deliver services to our people. I am sure that the Grand Coalition will work although there are doubting Thomases who are very sceptical about it. But we are all Kenyans who want to live in harmony. We know where we have come from. We also know what is at stake. I want to appeal to Members to desist from making the public think that the Grand Coalition will not work. Let us make peace with everyone because we have decided to work together. We, as a Government, should strive to address all issues afflicting our people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the problem of prison warders has been with us for a long time. When we talk about post-election violence, we tend to think about ordinary Kenyans. We forget that this would also have affected prison warders. We need to be sensitive to sensitive issues before they flare up. Some things just need a spark and then we have chaos in this country. So, we should be sensitive to problems afflicting our people before they flare up. We should also be sensitive to the problems affecting the youth in this country. Most of us are not very close to our children. In due course, we find that we have lost them to drugs. It is sad that we cannot reverse the situation once our youth become addicted to drugs. So, they end up in the streets with bhang and other hard drugs. No wonder their business now is uprooting railway lines when they are provoked. So, we should think about appreciating their concerns and addressing them in terms of putting more money into youth programmes. I am sure this should be addressed in the next Budget to be able to cater for our youth in terms of jobs and training."
}