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"id": 217607,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/217607/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Katuku",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Water and Irrigation",
"speaker": {
"id": 281,
"legal_name": "John Mutua Katuku",
"slug": "mutua-katuku"
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"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to inform this House, so that Mr. Omingo cannot inform me when I am trying to correct what he messed. When we talk of a budget deficit and financing gap, we are talking about two different terms. I think Mr. Omingo needs to see the Minister. Maybe when the lecturer was teaching, Mr. Omingo was busy doing other things. Anyway, I do not want to get to that. The deficit that we have in this year's Budget is Kshs109 billion. But the Minister did explain very clearly how he will be able to finance this amount. This means, then, that there is no financing gap. I do not want to labour on that point. I want to thank the Minister for ensuring that this Government is able to collect enough revenue. I also want to thank the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) for the good job that it is doing. Likewise, I want to join the Minister in thanking Kenyans for paying taxes, so that we can finance our expenditure. The days we were relying on donors and begging them are gone. We have realised that our own revenue can do marvellous things. But that does not mean that we do not need donor support. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation, especially, is getting a lot of support from our development partners. I would like to appeal for their support, especially when it comes to direct funding of projects which have economic implications or can change the lives of Kenyans. So, this year's Budget did give Kenyans hope. I am sure that if we are able to implement it, we will turn this country round in terms of economic growth. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as the Minister said, poverty levels have gone down from 56 per cent to 46 per cent. That is a reduction of 10 per cent. But one of my colleagues here was confusing the percentage and also substraction. But, because he has gone, I do not need to waste time on educating him. But I am sure because he was the Minister's classmate, he will educate him on this. But the drop in poverty levels is very commendable. When people stand up and say that they do not see this, I wonder where they come from. The money being applied through Government expenditure; either through the line Ministries, Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) or Local Authorities Transfer Fund (LATF), in the villages is translating the lives down there in a big way. In fact, in some villages you cannot easily get a fundi to do a small job for you, because they are busy with CDF and LATF projects. This means that employment has been created at the lowest level. It also means that the money that is going to their pockets now, was not going there before. What was happening is that the money was being budgeted for, but it never reached the villages. That is why I am saying that people in the villages have got jobs now. For example, in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, we have allocated money to the irrigation sub-sector of the Ministry. With that allocation we have seen some irrigation schemes being revived. These include Ahero, Bunyala, Mwea and others. If you pass through those regions, June 20, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1943 you will see farmers busy doing a lot of activities. Over Kshs300 million has been put into these irrigation schemes which had stalled. As a result, we have been able, within one harvest, to realise about Kshs3.5 billion in terms of gross outcome of these crops across the country. However, I would like to appeal to the Minister for Finance to find ways of allocating more money to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation in order for it to develop the irrigation potential in this country. We have only utilised about 20 per cent of the irrigation potential in this country. This country has an irrigation potential of about 530,000 hectares. But we have only utilized 110,000 hectares. This means that we have a potential of about 80 per cent which has not been utilized. So, if we had more money allocated to this sub-sector, we would be able to transform this country into a better place to live in. Those who come from areas where we are undertaking irrigation projects can attest to this. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, recently, I visited Morocco. My Permanent Secretary visited Israel while another team from the Ministry of Water and Irrigation visited Egypt, to see how we can work on an irrigation policy, because this country has run without one. We are working towards finalising the preparation of an irrigation policy. This week, I will invite Members of Parliament and brief them on this policy. This country requires about Kshs20 billion yearly for that sub-sector to be able to realise its potential. Once that is done, the youth who are unemployed, the Mungiki and criminals in the Coast Province, whom we have been talking about, and other idle fellows, will be engaged. Therefore, substantially, the Ministry of State for Administration and National Security will not require a huge budget to deal with the Mungiki menace and general insecurity in this country. I will be able, in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, to engage the youth in very productive activities which will ensure the creation of additional employment, food production and security. In Morocco, where I visited, 60 per cent of the national budget goes to agriculture. Seventy per cent of that agriculture budget goes to irrigation. Irrigation infrastructure is highly developed in that country and people use that infrastructure to irrigate their country. As a result, they export all sorts of fruits to Europe. It is a shame for us to find fruits from Israel and South Africa in our supermarkets, when we have a potential to produce them locally. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}