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"speaker_name": "Mr. Sambu",
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"legal_name": "Alfred B. Wekesa Sambu",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. for giving me time to contribute to the debate on the Budget Speech. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speake, Sir, I want to thank the Government and the Kenya Revenue Authority for going out and collecting the taxes, particularly the VAT. Many traders in the past were collecting VAT from the people, and they were not remitting it to the Government. If you went to a shop, they would say: \"If you want a receipt, I will put in the VAT.\" If you do not want a receipt, they don't show the VAT. So, I want to say that it is a good effort, and we want all future Governments to make sure that they keep on collecting VAT, because it is very unfair for people to pay VAT and then for the traders not to remit the VAT. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to say that, yes, the Minister has supported certain sectors in agriculture. He has supported pyrethrum and coffee. I have no problem, but he has to support all sectors. At the moment, the maize farmers in the maize-growing areas of Kenya 2082 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 27, 2007 are owed Kshs1.5 billion from the deliveries they made late last year and early this year. Now, those farmers have had a problem carrying out maize planting this season. Those who have money to plant cannot top-dress, because they have not been paid. So, I want to tell the Treasury to release the Kshs1.5 billion to the Ministry of Agriculture, so that it can onward release it to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), so that the maize farmers can be paid their Kshs1.5 billion. There is no point in holding the money up to November/December, when the other crop is getting ready. Release the money now. The maize and wheat farmers are in a serious problem in the North Rift and Western parts of Kenya. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on security, I want to say that, yes, the Minister said that they are going to employ, I do not know, 25,000 or 28,000 new policemen. I want to say that the Office of the President, particularly Internal Security, kept the biggest part of this Budget compared to other Ministries and departments. But they cannot facilitate the existing police. Yes, we shall employ more policemen, but why are we not facilitating the officers who are there? In Nairobi, yes, we see them mobile and we see them walk to bring down this menace which is on now; people killing each other. But in the outside districts, for example, in my own district, three people were killed last year at Mosoriot, where there is a teacher training college. One of the oldest teacher training colleges in this Republic. It is in Nandi North District at Mosoriot. Three people were killed near the college last year. This year, last month, two more people have been killed by robbers and the DOs office is only 200 metres away. In the killing of last year, the DOs office was only 300 metres away. So, I asked--- I asked the DO why he is not doing his job and he said that they are not facilitated; no fuel, nothing. No vehicles, no fuel. Even the Administration Police (APs) who were there when these things happened last year--- There was a robbery there; they say their guns are too old and they jammed. So, they ran away. What is Internal Security doing with all this money? Facilitate the police and get people who are trained to do investigative work. Those who are there are just--- You know! Many of the Divisional Criminal Investigation Officers (DCIOs) are doing nothing, they are just collecting bribes. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we employ teachers, I support it, but let it be done at constituency level and not at the district level. If it is to be equitable, let it be done at the constituency level. We will solve a lot of these things if you do them at the constituency level. Still on education, as my colleagues who have spoken earlier have said, we want the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) to be given more funds. They should despatch these funds to all Kenyan students, even to those who are doing what they call \"Parallel Programme\". The parallel programme has arisen because the universities, and these are public universities which were built using public funds but they are now imposing--- Because they have raised the entry point to \"A-Minus\", very few Kenyan students get \"A-Minus\". So, a lot of students will still qualify to join the university but through this programme they call \"Parallel Programme\". This \"Parallel Programme\" is so expensive. So, I am saying and I shall be saying it more when we debate the Budget of the Ministry, that, we want the HELB to be given more funds so that they can also disburse it to the parallel programme students. After all, it is a loan and everybody will repay it, whether they went through the parallel or regular programme."
}