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"id": 215593,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Kipchumba",
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"legal_name": "Joseph Kipchumba Lagat",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this very important Motion, which is long overdue. In the same spirit that the Government is going to bring a Bill regarding the same issue, I think it is, therefore, in order for the Government to support this Motion so that the Bill can be enacted before this Session is over. I want to agree that this Motion cannot be withdrawn because the Government is known to delay issues for a long time. I, therefore, want to congratulate Mr. Weya by saying that this Motion has come up at a very opportune time. Every country in this world is now investing in ICT. Yesterday, we discussed the Media Bill. The Media Bill and the proposed ICT Bill should have been incorporated because ideally, they will be dealing with the same issues. I asked the Minister to tell us who will deal with the licensing of media houses and I was reliably informed that the ICT Bill will take care of those concerns. I am, therefore, happy that in spite of the fact that the Assistant Minister said the Bill will come this week, it should have come yesterday. We are losing many employees in this country--- When you go out of this country, you will realise that most of the developed countries outsource most of their labour force from the developing world. Kenya, as a nation, is losing a lot because our infrastructure is not adequately developed for the advancement of the ICT. Many companies which operate in America outsource their personnel from Kenya where labour is still very cheap. As we continue to delay introducing ICT in our country, countries like India, are advancing in ICT because they have developed their ICT infrastructure. If this Government was serious, it would have created a Ministry to deal with ICT issues. We should forget about the Departmental Ministries which have been created. This would have been a Ministry on its own. The ICT can easily create the 500,000 jobs which the Government promised Kenyans when they came to power. If the Government was serious, it would have, in its budget, invested a lot of money in ICT. If you look at the budget of every Ministry, you will see that there is always money reserved for the advancement of technology. However, if you visit each Ministry, you will find that, for the last few years, there is nothing to show for the money which has been budgeted for ICT. If, really, digital villages--- Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, after attending a seminar which was sponsored by the World Bank, I am aware that the Bank is keen to sponsor some of these activities. However, we are aware that the Bank does not have much work in this country. Given that they are idle, we want to request them to give us more money to invest in digital villages. This is not a matter concerning the constituencies. Many of the technologies which are being developed are concentrated in the urban centres. The reason why we have the rural-urban migration is because this country has tended to plan its programmes to the detriment of the rural areas. There is no reason why someone should 2228 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 4, 2007 come from the rural areas to urban centres to seek for assistance which can be found in the rural areas. But, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the biggest handicap in the development of this technology is the development of power. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as long as the Ministry of Information and Communications does not work hand in hand with the Ministry of Energy, it will be an exercise in futility. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) requires the development of electric power everywhere in the country. There are very many areas in this country that are not yet connected to electricity. If, indeed, electricity cannot be connected to those areas, the Government must invest in other sources of power, including the use of solar energy. We must know which comes first. We cannot, today, tell the country that we are going to invest in ICT. But where and how? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the first infrastructure that will lead to easy development of ICT would be the development of power in those areas. As it is now, it is the policy of the Government to take power to institutions of the Government only. But many, probably 60 per cent of this country, is not yet connected. Therefore, I would like to request the Minister, even before we pass this Bill, to liaise with the Ministry of Energy and also source for more funds from development partners to fund the expansion and distribution of electric power. While electric power is ideally now being distributed, of course, it will reach a time when the supply and the demand will not match and, therefore, there is need to develop the sources of the generation of this electric power. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to request that this Bill be brought quickly so that before we go for our long recess--- And this fund that the Minister wants to develop must not be based in Nairobi. We are aware that many of the funds that are developed are always in the headquarters of this country. If this fund is developed, we would like everybody; all the stakeholders to be involved. I have not even seen a provision in this Budget for the development of the same and, therefore, when the Minister says that the Bill will be passed and, therefore, there will be digital villages, you wonder where they are going to get the funds from. Ideally, that should have been foreseen in advance and, therefore, provision for that money should have been made. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}