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"content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Budget Speech. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is high time we had a complete change of policy in terms of making the Budget in this country. We have said, time and again, that it is high time hon. Members were involved in the Budget-making process. It is not fair for us to discuss Budget June 27, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2065 Speech without our input. Hon. Members here are giving very good contributions on the Budget Speech. However, I wonder whether their contributions will ever be implemented to assist this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, many hon. Members have complained about the way money meant for water is being distributed in this country. It is a pity that many constituencies in this country do not have sufficient water. Why is this so, when we have Lake Victoria? If we were to channel a lot of funds in the provision of water in this country, our people would not be suffering. This state of affair should not be allowed to prevail for a long time. Who will save this country from perennial water shortages? We do not want to see the Minister and his Assistant Ministers for Water and Irrigation allocating a lot of resources to their own constituencies to provide water to their constituents, while other areas continue to suffer. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in most cases, this Government has never allocated enough funds to our roads. When will time come when this money will be allocated fairly and equitably in this country? This can only be possible if hon. Members are involved in the Budget- making process. They are the only people who can allocate road funds fairly throughout this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on agriculture, we should allocate more funds in order to completely curb famine in this country. We should be self-reliant in terms of food production. We should not seek food aid from other countries. This makes us to be referred to as a beggar country. When shall we stop doing this? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, nowadays, we see many imported vehicles on our roads. When will we see Kenyan cars on our roads? Why can we not manufacture these vehicles ourselves instead of importing them? We should not make this country a place for only assembling vehicle parts. We should be self-reliant in this field. This is the only way we can realise the Vision 2030 we always talk about. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the minimum reforms, I would like to add my voice by saying that whenever some individuals want to vie for the presidency of this country, they actually advocate for minimum reforms on our Constitution. They are no longer talking about comprehensive Constitution. Some of these presidential aspirants are promising Kenyans a new constitution within 60 days once they are elected President of this country. We know Kenyans were cheated in 2002 that they would get a new constitution within 100 days of the NARC Administration. The hon. Members who promised Kenyans that they would deliver a new constitution within 100 days are in this House. So, it has been a slogan that whenever one wants to become a President of this country, he promises to deliver a new constitution within 100 days. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me tell Kenyans to be wary of those people who promise to deliver a new constitution within a stipulated time frame. The present Constitution is good for the rulers and bad for the ruled. If I, hon. Kimeto, wants to become the President of this country, I will also promise to deliver a constitution within 30 days. So, when will these people understand that we need a complete and comprehensive constitution? The former retired President Moi urged Kenyans to allocate enough time for a new constitution. However, many Kenyans, including hon. Members of Parliament here, dismissed him and promised to deliver a new constitution in 100 days. Why do Kenyans like to be cheated? They are being taken for a ride. It is only this Parliament that will sanction a new constitution when the right time comes. It is not possible for us to have a comprehensive constitution before we go for elections. Therefore, it will be a slogan for campaigns during general elections. I want to assure Kenyans we will not have a new constitution in this country if it is not delivered by the current Parliament. It will never be ready if it is not done now. We do not need minimum reforms on our Constitution. We need a constitution that will last for more than a 100 years. 2066 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 27, 2007 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is a bit sad that the Minister did not allocate money for construction of bridges, especially in flood prone areas. Why can this money not be factored in the Budget? So many people have been marooned by floods in those areas because of lack of bridges. I am sure, hon. Members, would have included this in the Budget if, at all, they were involved. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the security situation in this country is worrying. In Egypt, for example, they do not take security issues for granted. The moment a visitor arrives in Egypt, a police officer is assigned to him. There are specific police officers who take care of whoever visits that country. They take care of their visitors. As a result of this security arrangement, many visitors are visiting Egypt. If this country is insecure as it is now, no visitors will come to invest here. If there is enough security, then our economy will be boosted, particularly in the tourism industry."
}