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"id": 197237,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/197237/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Mbau",
"speaker_title": "The Member for Maragwa",
"speaker": {
"id": 182,
"legal_name": "Elias Peter Mbau",
"slug": "elias-mbau"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people of Maragwa for returning me to Parliament, so that I can continue to serve them as well as Kenya. I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate the President for giving this House and the nation a very well thought-out Speech that has, indeed, espoused a lot of policies and put in place envisaged Bills that if seriously taken into account and passed by this House, will lay the foundation for future progress and growth of this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is true that as Members of Parliament, and as Kenyans, we have in the recent past gone through very difficult moments. We should recognise that all human beings look for a share of what is available. We are talking about the resources of this country; the so- called national cake. All those who have eyes will appreciate that the root cause of our problems is the manner in which the resources of this country have been apportioned, appropriated, mobilised and the manner in which representatives of people; hon. Members of this House have been given a chance or denied the same to oversee their allocation and utilisation. This occasions moments for some regions and persons to feel that they have been deprived that which they consider to rightly belong to them. I want to assure this House, as my friend, Mr. Wambugu, of Mathioya, said, that it is only that person who does not travel beyond their borders who imagines that grass across the fence is greener than where he or she is. Indeed, I know that hon. Members will have an opportunity to travel around the country, to learn and acknowledge for themselves the diversities that this country appears to have. Those who come from certain regions have sometimes been considered and viewed to be well endowed in terms of resources. More often than not, we forget that it is their hard labour and business acumen that puts them a step ahead of their sisters and brothers. We need to cultivate the spirit of hard work, the spirit of wanting to do things by ourselves and wanting to be achievers so that in whichever circumstances; government or leader that is in office, as an individual and as a region, we can appreciate the institutions, systems and mechanisms that can enable us to live and succeed without necessarily having to look at who is the leader at that time. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to appeal that, having come from what we have gone through, as a House of representatives of the people, we must use this occasion to ensure that there is rational privatisation and subsequent utilisation of resources to ensure that they reflect the March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 243 country's development aspirations. I know, and we have been told about a document called Vision 2030. I also know that the President was reported as having said that there is need to harmonise all political parties' manifestos with a view to realising the aspirations and development objectives of Vision 2030. I know that this is a new document which has not been implemented. For the past five years, the Government was working on the five-year Development Plan, the economic recovery strategy on wealth and employment creation. I am glad to note that the policies in the five-year Development Plan were implemented successfully, and effectively to the extent that at the end of the five-year period, Kenya was able to talk about a 7.0 per cent economic growth rate, having come from nearly a negative growth rate in 2002, of 0.6 per cent. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have been told, we know and we have learnt that between 1963 and 1964, when Kenya gained its Independence, we were at par in terms of growth and development with other countries which are now called \"newly-industrialised countries\", whose people are currently enjoying very high standards of living. It is regrettable to note that Kenya is not a poor country. We are well endowed. What has been lacking is co-operation and proper leadership that centres on the interests of wananchi . I want to urge my colleagues, hon. Members of this House, that we have an onerous opportunity to ensure that we put in place systems and focus on the real needs of the people who elected us. The people who elected us do not care what you are going to achieve. All they care about is if they can put food on the table for themselves and their families, probably twice a day. Are we able to come up with policies, as Members of Parliament, that will ensure that our people are able to take their children to school from Standard One all the way to university because we have put in place mechanisms that facilitate and enable them? Are we able to put in place polices that ensure that when they do work, they get enough to decently cloth themselves and their families? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, upon careful analysis of our economic potential, you will note that, as a country, we have what it takes to go where we deserve to go. We have sectors that have been doing very well. Our tourism is a giant that has been lying dormant. We know that for about three years when there was peace and tranquillity in this country, tourism was able to catch up and, in fact, become the number one foreign exchange earner for this country. But the backbone of our economy still remains agriculture. I would like to urge whoever is going to occupy the seat at Kilimo House to ensure that agriculture, from where a majority of our people really derive their livelihood, is taken care of. He or she should ensure that Bills and policies are brought to this House to foster agricultural institutions like Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC), Kenya Farmers Association (KFA) and others. That will increase productivity from our farming units, whether they are small-scale or large-scale. We should ensure that land use and land reforms attendant to---"
}