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"speaker_name": "Mr. Chepkitony",
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"legal_name": "Lucas Kipkosgei Chepkitony",
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"content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to contribute to this debate in support of the Budget Speech. First of all, I would like to commend the Minister for presenting a Budget which aims at achieving what we desire in this country. The biggest achievement of this Government is sustenance of the Free Primary Education Programme, which was introduced immediately NARC took power. However, the employment of 11,000 teachers, mentioned by the Minister, is not enough. We would like the Minister to employ double or triple this number. Currently, the shortfall of teachers in both primary and secondary schools in the country is about 60,000. Employing only 11,000 teachers out of the 60,000 teachers required will not assist in achieving a high quality of education. So, the Government should attempt to increase the financial allocation to the Ministry of Education, so that it can employ more teachers, so that free primary education can, really, be free. As of now, parents of most primary schools employ teachers to supplement Government teachers. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I must commend the Government for waiving tuition fees from January next year. This will go a long way to assist parents to keep their children in school. I would have liked the Ministry to take over payment of salaries to non-teaching staff, who are known as \"Board of Governors employees\". In addition to waiving tuition fees, the Government should have gone ahead to pay the non-teaching staff in secondary schools, so that the burden on parents, of paying fees in secondary schools, is a little bit alleviated. That would be slightly better. The amount of loan given to university students by the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has remained almost the same over the years. The Government should increase the allocation to the HELB. The HELB should extend its lending to privately-sponsored students. Most of the students who attend privately-sponsored programmes could not attend the regular programmes because of the cut-off point admission criteria; they miss a point or two to qualify for the regular programme. So, such students have no alternative other than pursuing university 2068 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 27, 2007 education through private sponsorship. It does not mean that they are rich, or that their parents are financially able. So, the prospect of giving HELB loans to privately-sponsored students should be pursued vigorously. The Ministry should invest in all public universities, as well as in private universities. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, agriculture is a very important sector in this country. That has been said over and over again since Independence. The agricultural sector contributes 80 per cent of the country's employment, 60 per cent of our export earnings and 24 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product. The Minister mentioned that he is going to do something to restructure the institutions. This should be done. But he did not mention which institutions. We have been wanting the Ministry to assist institutions such as the Kenya Farmers Association (KFA), which used to assist farmers a lot in procuring various inputs, particularly fertilizers, chemicals, farm machinery and many others. But that institution is suffering from financial problems and they need to be assisted to stabilise. So, the Government should pump money to the KFA, the same way it has done to the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) and the Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC). The KFA is very important for both dairy and livestock farming. So, this institution should be assisted. The Minister mentioned that he is going to do something to reduce the cost of fertilizer, but he did not say how. He did not mention it. He just said it without detailing the concrete action which will be taken. It is currently being monopolized by traders who are interested in making the maximum profit, and you cannot stop a trader from reducing or increasing the price. So, this should be taken up. The only way to do this is, is to revive the KFA which used to be the major importing agent for all farm inputs. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister has taken good action in the dairy industry to reduce tax on powdered milk. This will assist to convert excess milk into powdered milk and vice versa or even export it. This was a commendable thing. He also mentioned something on sugar, coffee and tea, which is commendable. He took a good step regarding pyrethrum to provide, in the Budget, payment to farmers who have still not been paid from 2003 up to now. But he did not mention anything on maize, wheat and cashewnuts. Maize farmers are suffering. Up to now, farmers who delivered their crop to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) in February have not been paid. They have been told to go and take money from Equity Bank, which charges some interest on the money they take. They should meet that interest which the farmer is charged when he goes to take an advance payment from Equity Bank. Something must be done about the NCPB so that they are able to pay cash on delivery to farmers rather than buying maize on credit. They inconvenience farmers who have so many commitments to meet, for example, paying school fees, household requirements and so many others. So, the NCPB should have a rotating fund which should be there all the time. When they sell the maize, that money should go back to that account so that they do not rely on the Treasury every now and then, asking the Treasury to give them money every year. So, something must be done, in the reforms that the Minister mentioned, to address the issue of the NCPB on the purchase of maize and, possibly, wheat."
}