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"speaker_name": "Mr. Kimathi",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was talking about the International Shipping Merchant Bill. We expected it, but last time, it was not debated because we went for recess. I was drawing the attention of this House to the fact that we cannot throw all the concessions to foreign countries. I am well-travelled. In fact, I have travelled to many countries of the world and many of them do not allow merchant shipping companies to also operate agencies within the territory that they operate. Agencies involved in offloading and loading of cargo should have more than 51 per cent shareholding, if not 100 per cent by the indigenous citizens of that country. We have noted in this country, that shipping agencies or many shipping merchants get themselves offices within all ports of entry in this country. That deprives able Kenyans who have, probably, been retrenched from shipping lines and are trained and qualified in that area, the opportunity to start their own agencies. They stand to benefit from the services of offloading and loading ships! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it has been said that it is the theme of the NARC Government to create employment for many of our young men and women, that would be one way of creating thousands of jobs to these young people if only we do not give away to all foreign merchants the business of carrying dry cargo to sea and offloading and loading services within the ports in our territory. I would like to remind the Minister about the Chinese Rebellion and tell him what caused it. The Chinese Rebellion was as a result of the Western world, that is, the USA, France and other countries, being given so many concessions by China, which later went insolvent. They no longer had silver to pay the foreign countries. They were declared insolvent. So, the population rebelled against the idea of too many concessions. We cannot keep on selling our parastatals, which make huge profits. For example, we cannot afford to sell a parastatal like the Kenya Ports Authority.There must be a reason to warrant the sale of a parastatal. For example, there is no reason to warrant the Government of the Republic of Kenya to sell the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA). The KPA is run well. It has one dynamic manager who is home grown. That should be the trend. Even when it comes to political appointments, we have many men and women who are qualified and they are home grown within the organisations. Instead of sourcing for unqualified manpower; sometime dead woods, from outside, we must promote those men and women within the parastatals to become the Chief Executive Officers (CEO). A majority of them may have started as clerks and grown within the system. They would offer the best results. September 5, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3721 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is very unfortunate when we do not encourage our young men and women to work hard and improve their status in the Ministries and parastatals. I know some men and women working in Ministries and parastatals who joined at very low levels. However, they have worked hard to uplift themselves. Some have gone to an extent of acquiring Bachelors degrees, Masters and Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD). Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Transport is amorphously too wide. It has many dynamic parastatals. I would urge that we enhance it. The Attorney-General should bring good law to organise the institutions. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to point out here that it is very unfortunate that some CEOs in some parastatals tend, probably due to individual influence, to display some degree of superiority beyond the parent Ministry. If I am the CEO of a parastatal and I have a Minister friend, it does not matter how rich I am or how well I am connected politically, but I must work within the policy framework. It is on record that some CEOs of parastatals have tended to display the width of their chest due to their good political connections. They have tended to ignore the Ministers or the officials of the Ministries. We lead from the top. We have to become role models. If I am a Member of Parliament, I must behave well so that councillors can emulate me. If I am the CEO of an organisation, I have to respect the policies I receive from the Minister. It does not matter what my status in life or political connection are. It is only then that we can, no doubt, make this country a great nation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to commend the very able Minister for Transport in the manner he has worked hard to steer this Ministry. It is very important that parastatals be advised on policy issues. How does this come about? It is not the Minister for Transport who has succeeded per se. He is only an individual. It is the Ministry that has succeeded. Through who? Through his very dynamic and able qualified technocrats who work under him. They advise him well and work well. It is very important that this country start valuing good brains. We should reward and start appreciating the services we receive from experts in various fields. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, I want to say that there is a lot of confusion as the speaker who spoke before me said with regard to driving licenses. The confusion involves the Ministry of Transport and Office of the President. There is need for separation of responsibility. I am sure the people of Lari love me. I will come back in the Tenth Parliament. Together with my brothers and sisters who will come back, we need to enhance this separation. We should have a transport authority and these organisations can run well. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Transport has something to do with roads and the Ministry of Roads and Public Works has the input of constructing roads. We need harmonisation, so that we have one authority running all those rather than the over-laps. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with all those remarks, I beg to support."
}