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"id": 197250,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. M. Mwangi",
"speaker_title": "The Member for Kiharu",
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"legal_name": "Ephraim Mwangi Maina",
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"content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am Mr. Barnabas Muturi Mwangi. I represent the people of Kiharu Constituency. I want to thank you for allowing me to support the Presidential Address. First, I wish to thank the principals, His Excellency the President and Mr. Raila, for creating an environment that has allowed us to discuss the issues that have affected our country for the last two months. I want to emphasise some of the points that have been raised by my colleagues 252 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 in the House. However, I want to look at some of the points from a different point of view. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we talk a lot about equity in distribution of resources, land tenure and ownership. We also speak about slums. I would rather call them \"unplanned settlements\" in our urban areas. Very few of us have had time to visit Mathare, Mukuru and Kibera slums. I am glad that His Excellency the President mentioned the issue of slums. Kenyans living in these slums are no less men or women than other people who live in rural constituencies, yet they do not own anything. Most of the people living in these areas do not own houses, if those shanties they live in are houses, neither do they own land. Those who own this land, either the Government or individuals, care less to improve the infrastructure in these areas. When we come to address this matter, can we discuss it with a moral and a humane face, as far as this issue of unplanned settlements in Kenya is concerned? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, several hon. Members have already talked about issues affecting the youth. We have the Youth Enterprise and Development Fund (YEDF). I wonder whether the Ministry of State for Youth Affairs has ever found out whether the funds that were allocated in the last Parliament were ever fully utilised by the youth. The conditions that have been set by the banks have been very unfortunate. The youth cannot access these funds because of the strict conditions that have been put by the banks. In actual fact, this Parliament should not even think of lending the youth these funds. We should create a policy where this Fund will be used as seed money to the poor youth we have all over the country. There is no need of asking them to go to the banks; they will not get this money. The conditions are very strict. The youth are suffering. Some of the reasons are created by our institutions. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, while we congratulate the two principals on what they have done in creating this kind of atmosphere, can we address issues affecting the agricultural sector, which is the backbone of this country? Many of us have talked about the issue of coffee. Who told hon. Members that the peasant coffee farmers out there are enjoying any profits? That is not true. We had better look into this issue carefully. The small scale farmers cannot afford to produce quality coffee. The cost of inputs has escalated to a point where only the rich can carry on coffee farming. In the last Parliament, the former Minister created a policy of reviving some societies that were not productive, yet those which were productive were supposed to maintain these moribund societies. Let us liberalise the coffee industry. The small scale coffee farmers are suffering. They are no better than the farmers in the sugar industry. At least the sugar industry is lucky, because the Government can allow people to import sugar into this country. Why has the Government not taken the bold step and subsidized fertilizer production in this country? Some of us have been to countries where a whole country has a Minister in charge of fertilizer, so that they can support the small scale farmers. What has gone wrong for the last 40 years, so that the Government cannot see the need to support the production of fertilizer in this country, so that small scale farmers, who are growing maize in the Rift Valley, and those growing coffee or rice, feel that the Government is supporting them? The infrastructure has collapsed of most parts in this country. When I was young I was able to travel from Nairobi to Moyale District. Who tells you that the tourism industry can only flourish in the Coastal area? Why do you not take a bus and go to Marsabit District? I wish this Parliament was one day required to address the nation from the highlands of Marsabit District. Tourism can be everywhere in this country. What we require is peace and security. The laws of this country urgently need to be looked into. We have the military. Who tells you that we can only send our men and women to Sudan and elsewhere for peace keeping, while we are at war amongst ourselves? Why do we not use our machinery and military equipment to improve the infrastructure? Why are people killing each other in Laikipia? Why are they in the forest? Why does the army not get there and construct roads and water holes that will improve the March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 253 living standards of our people? We have the resources. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I now want to dwell a little more on the issue of education. I have worked in the Ministry of Education for close to 33 years. More emphasis than is being given today should be given to education. It is not bad to have free education. I congratulate the Government for that. We have talked about the free secondary education. But are we offering quality education? We have got to change the attitude of our people, who want to fight for pieces of land. We should take interest in the quality of education that we can offer in this country, and be able to export human resource, as was alluded to by His Excellency the President yesterday. We are fighting for land and yet the quality of education is below par. We are also talking about Free Primary Education (FPE) and yet the children who need the best care during their formative years in early childhood training have not been considered. The Education Act, Cap.211 of 1968 is moribund. It is completely out of place and yet we are talking about offering free education. Let us put in place an Act that will enable our young people get quality education and, at least, enhance other areas in the education sector. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we always talk about livestock development. We are not inventing a wheel when it comes to improving our livestock. Whoever becomes the Minister for Livestock should take people to Northern India to see what those people do in the desert. Those people milk buffaloes! Why can we not tame this wild animals if we cannot afford to get milk from our cows? We are not re-inventing the wheel. What we want is to get people who are going to implement Government policies to the letter. One of the biggest problems in this country is corruption. We should change the Constitution and then talk about equity. When we change the Constitution, we should address the problem of unequal creation of constituencies. It should not be one person to one person! How do you expect a Member of Parliament who is representing 300 persons to be given the same service as that of a Member of Parliament who is representing 50,000 people? Equity should be applied across the board in all aspects of our lives. With those remarks, I beg to support the Motion."
}