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"id": 197721,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Khang'ati",
"speaker_title": "The Member for Kanduyi",
"speaker": {
"id": 42,
"legal_name": "Alfred Khang'ati",
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"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, my name is Mr. Alfred Khang'ati. I represent Kanduyi Constituency in Bungoma South District. First and foremost, I 148 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 13, 2008 would like to join everybody else who has congratulated you for being elected as the Speaker of this House. We hope that your guidance will see us through all that we wish to do. I would like to give my first appreciation to God because, not very long ago, all of us were in despair. We had lost confidence. We were all thinking, planning and doing things which, to a certain extent, were not good for our country. So many people went on their knees, prayed and fasted and now we have peace and unity. We are now saying that Dr. Kofi Annan and the mediation team did a very good job, and we are thanking them. We thank our leaders, His Excellency the President and Mr. Raila, for what they have done for our country. But I think above all, we should thank God, because he has taken care of us. We should thank all those people who are praying for this country, that we do not go back to where we have been. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I appreciate the Government's indication that support is going to be given to people who have been displaced. My prayer is that the amount of Kshs1 billion, which the President mentioned in his Address, will be distributed fairly. Part of the problem we have in Kenya is unfair distribution of whatever resource is available. Kenyans out there are waiting, and want to see how support is going to be given out. The first step in the healing process will be how that Kshs1 billion will be given out. It has been repeatedly said here that the major problem in this country is land. I agree, but would like to say that actually the major problem in this country is unemployment. That is what has made everything very difficult for all of us. In 2002, His Excellency, the President did not need to campaign because he promised the youth 500,000 jobs every year, and the youth gladly campaigned and voted for him. In 2007, it was very difficult for him, because he was not speaking any more about 500,000 jobs. In fact, when he was here addressing us, the only two occasions he talked about employment was when he was talking about Vision 2030 and when he talked about the review of the Employment Act. It is important for us to address the issue of unemployment. Most of the people out there, who loot and cause mayhem, have deep-seated frustrations arising from inability to provide for themselves. That is the issue of unemployment. So, this House should very seriously address the issue of unemployment, and more so in relation to how employment opportunities will be equitably distributed. We hear that police and army officers are going to be recruited, but at the end of the day when the numbers are looked at, there is unfair distribution. That issue should be addressed. When we do it that way, then the healing process will have begun and will end well. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to inform this House that more than 80 per cent of public servants, that is teachers, police officers, and so on, earn less that Kshs15,000 per month. Therefore, for practical purposes, they are as good as unemployed. It is important that we address the issue of the wages that the public servants are paid. It is important that those people be paid well, so that they can also become investors. We keep talking about attracting investors from outside, yet our own people are not even able to buy cars. If that issue is properly addressed, then some of the problems, or burdens that we, as hon. Members have to bear, will not be there. When we go to our constituencies everybody comes to our homes, because we are the ones who earn something substantial. If teachers were earning well, then some of those people who come to see us would be going to take tea where teachers work and stay. So, the issue of wages needs to be addressed. It is very important that our people start living well. We talk about local tourism. Our people who are paid such wages cannot be local tourists, because they cannot even afford transport from the rural areas to Nairobi, leave alone to the game parks and the reserves. So, when that issue is addressed, we will be making some useful progress. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to talk about the sugar-cane farmers. Those farmers work for middlemen and other people. They do not work for themselves, because the respective factories March 13, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 149 that buy their sugar-cane do not pay them well. His Excellency the President talked about the review of the Sugar Act. It is very important that, that matter be looked into, so that those people can make something meaningful out of their efforts. If that is not done, then we will not go very far. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to say something about sports. We all know that sportsmen and women are our best ambassadors out there. Indeed, whenever Kenyans go out, the image of this country is redeemed. This time round, we are going to have the Olympic Games. That will be in four months time. Nobody is talking about the Olympic Games in Beijing, 2008. No monetary provisions have been made by the Government in this connection. People do not know where to train, how to train and how to be provided for. It is important that, that issue is addressed, so that the glory of this country is lifted through sports. Thank you very much."
}