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{
"id": 196393,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/196393/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Ojaamong",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Labour",
"speaker": {
"id": 196,
"legal_name": "Sospeter Odeke Ojaamongson",
"slug": "sospeter-ojaamongson"
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"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me the opportunity to add my voice to this Report of the ACP-EU 15th Session. The issues discussed were very important for Kenya. I would like to thank the EU, because I have had an opportunity to interact with the people who bring in the EU projects. It has been as a result of these meetings between the ACP-EU countries. There have been a number of projects in my constituency, and the way they are being implemented, even though they are few, is more effective than the way the projects that are being done by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The EU projects that are initiated to aid Africans, in particular in Kenya, are actually tailored to fit the communities where they are being implemented. I have had three or four schools put up by EU through the Community Development Trust Fund, which is one 542 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 17, 2008 of the organizations working with the EU. These schools are built to suit local standards, the projects are implemented by the locals and the materials are bought by the locals. So, you will find that all the money that comes in, if it is Kshs3 million or 5 million, goes to benefit the community as compared to what the Bretton Woods institutions do. These institutions have also been discussed here. Their projects and policies on Africa have been questioned. If you look at some of sanctions that the IMF and the World Bank imposed on Kenya, for example the freeze on the employment of teachers, have had a very counter-productive effect on us. We now have one teacher attending to 100 to 300 pupils, depending on the area. This has led to very poor standards. This condition has not been lifted, and we continue to go through a very awkward education system. A child moves from Class I to Class II without knowing anything because of the large numbers. If the IMF and World Bank want to assist Africa, and Kenya in particular, let them come and assess the situation; I think they know it, but they just want to ensure that African remains backward and awkward. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we were been sworn in today, the President of Uganda was also condemning the IMF and the World Bank. They come to lecture Africans on African affairs, as if they know everything but provide no tangible solutions. The employment of nurses and doctors has also been frozen through the advice of the IMF and the World Bank. You can see the consequences. I visited one of the sub-district hospitals in my constituency, called Alupe, and found out that there is an acute shortage of doctors, nurses and support staff to the extent that service delivery has almost collapsed. This is the time we should look for African solutions to African problems. I believe that through the EU partnership with the ACP, we might be able to realise more, compared to what we achieve from our co-operation with the IMF and the World Bank. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of food security was also discussed. Most hon. Members, especially those from the Rift Valley, have already sounded an alarm that we might experience famine in the near future. It is my appeal to the relevant authority to take into consideration the reality of that appeal. It will be very painful, worse than the post-election violence, to see our people die due to lack of food, yet we have plenty of land in the Rift Valley and elsewhere lying fallow. Today, the President said that farmers will be provided with seeds, fertilizers and other farm in-puts free of charge. That will be a plus. This is also mentioned in the Report. Whereas I will not agree that the Report be adopted in totality, there are some other areas, like on page 22 of the Report---"
}