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{
"id": 197755,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/197755/?format=api",
"text_counter": 82,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Munyaka",
"speaker_title": "The Member for Machakos Town",
"speaker": {
"id": 86,
"legal_name": "Victor Kioko Munyaka",
"slug": "victor-munyaka"
},
"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I know that the youth of this country make up 70 per cent of the population. Most of them are unemployed. We know that jobs may not be enough for all of them. But there exists the Youth Enterprise Development Fund. I suggest that the Youth Enterprise Development Fund should be increased to create self-employment. That is because most of our youth are beyond the status of getting employed. That way, we can improve our Jua Kali sector. At the same time, there is a group of Kenyan citizens who are usually forgotten. Those are the senior citizens above 65 years of age. They are citizens who have given service to this country for the whole of their lives. They form about two groups. One group may be pensionable while the other consists of people who have never been employed. The group which consists of the unemployed old people need to be taken care of by the Government. I would like to suggest that anybody who is above 65 years of age, and who has been in Kenya all of his or her life and has never been employed and, therefore,is not earning any pension, he or she should get some remuneration, because we cannot forget that these people are still our senior citizens. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of agriculture, we should appreciate that three years ago, the price of a bag of fertilizer, for example the DAP, cost Kshs1,500. Two years ago the price rose to Kshs2,000. Today, the same bag costs Kshs4,000. What will be the price next year? The price will be higher. The price of a bag of maize has remained at Kshs1,300 for all that period of time. Therefore, this House needs to do something to deal with this problem. We have Government parastatals like the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) and the Kenya Seed Company (KSC). I would like to suggest that, where the Government can come in, it should subsidize and facilitate these parastatals to import fertilizers, so that farmers can benefit. But the long-term solution should be creating our fertilizer manufacturing factories. If we continue relying on importers, who are mainly businessmen, who are exploiting our farmers, then we are slowly letting down our farmers. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another issue concerns the many Kenyans who lost a lot of money through some fraudsters calling themselves pyramid schemes managers. I would like to request this House to come up with ways of protecting Kenyans, so that they do not fall into the hands of conmen. Many Kenyans lost a lot of money. The Government should be alert and protect its citizens. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), as we undertake to resettle them, we should also remember that before the 27th December, 2007 General Election, we had many tourists in Kenya. There was mass exodus of these tourists, because of the post-election violence. Many tourists fled Kenya. We support the recent initiative of hon. Members, who went outside this country to try and preach that Kenya is coming back to normalcy, so that those tourists can come back and help build our economy. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, lastly, but not least, I also want hon. Members to note that immediately the post-election violence broke out, there were many events which took place. I 170 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 13, 2008 want to congratulate His Excellency the President and Mr. Raila for the peace accord which they signed. I also want Mr. Musyoka to be congratulated, because he signed the first accord. What would have happened if Mr. Musyoka did not join the Government at that particular moment when things were really critical? With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}