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"id": 217218,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/217218/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Khaniri",
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"speaker": {
"id": 171,
"legal_name": "George Munyasa Khaniri",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I did not say that it was a political gimmick. I want to say that I have my suspicion that since this is one of the Ministries that we do not scrutinise here, these billions of shillings that have been allocated to this Ministry is the money that is going to be used to bribe Kenyans to vote for this Government come December, 2007. There 2034 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 26, 2007 is no justification under the moon or sun that we can vote this amount of money for the Ministry of State for Defence when the country is not at war with another country. It is the Ministry of Health that is supposed to receive this amount of allocation because we need to equip our health centres. We have put up so many health facilities through the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) and yet the Ministry cannot equip them. They cannot employ personnel to come and serve in these facilities because of budgetary constraints. Why can this money allocated for the Ministry of State for Defence not be shifted to the Ministry of Health so that we can improve medicare for Kenyans? In his Speech, the Minister told us that the level of poverty has decreased by 20 per cent. He then went ahead to say that it decreased from 56 per cent to 46 per cent. Even a primary school child will know that if it is from 56 per cent to 46 per cent, the decrease is 10 per cent and not 20 per cent. Be that as it may, even if it had decreased by 10 per cent, this decrease in poverty level is on paper. In my constituency, if anything, I want to say here that the poverty level has really increased in the last few years. The Minister should ensure that he transforms these figures that he always gives us here from paper to people's pockets so that they can enjoy this economic growth and the decrease in poverty level that he has always told us. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want this House to reject vehemently the move to waive import tax on imported industrial sugar. This is a sure way of killing the sugar industry. We hear stories that some people who are well connected in this Government have imported sugar which is at the Port of Mombasa. They were making this provision, specifically for those individuals to be able to bring in their sugar. We have to reject this vehemently. I know the Budget was a populist one, but there are some aspects of it that we should support, as Parliament. I welcome very much the idea of increasing the Budget for the Ministry of Roads and Public Works from Kshs42.5 billion to Kshs62.7 billion. For any country to achieve economic growth, the road network has to be put right. All the other sectors, be it agriculture or tourism, depend on the road network. Therefore, I want to hail the Minister for increasing the Budget for the Ministry of Roads and Public Works. I just want to urge the Minister for Roads and Public Works to ensure that when he is given those monies, he must ensure that there is proper workmanship by the contractors who are given the contracts to do the roads. He should also ensure that there are no delays. I have an example of the Gilgil-Naivasha Road, which has been under construction for the last five years, a contract that was supposed to, initially, just take, I think, 13 or 14 months. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, secondly, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to commend the Minister for setting aside some funds to recruit 7,000 teachers to replace those who have died or retired and some more money to recruit 4,000 new teachers. This makes a total of 11,000 new teachers to be recruited in the next financial year. We know that in our constituencies back at home, most of the schools are under-staffed and for the free primary education to succeed, we will need to give those schools more teachers. I, therefore, urge that when those teachers are recruited, let it be equitably distributed to all parts of the country. We do not want to hear of situations where they are recruiting, for example, in one district 100 teachers, but when they go to another district they recruit seven teachers. This must be equitably distributed because all areas, except the urban areas, are experiencing the teacher- shortage problem. I also want to thank the Minister for providing funds for the recruitment of additional 25,000 police officers so that we can improve on our state security. However, besides recruiting more policemen, we want to emphasise on the issue of remuneration for those officers. Speakers have spoken here before me decrying the welfare of the police officers in this country. They have no housing or insurance. This cannot give them the motivation to provide security in this country. Lastly, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also want to thank the Minister for Finance for exempting the pensioners from paying tax. We know the money they get is too little and it comes June 26, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2035 in too late yet those are people who already paid their taxes during their heydays. They should not be subjected in their old age, to paying taxes. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}