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{
"id": 217613,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/217613/?format=api",
"text_counter": 250,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Rotino",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 350,
"legal_name": "Phillip Ruto Rotino",
"slug": "phillip-rutino"
},
"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to add my voice to this very important Financial Statement that was given by the Minister. I want to congratulate him for giving a very good Financial Statement. But there are several gaps in it. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to support what my colleague, the Minister for Water and Irrigation has said, that this country has a lot of potential. I want to thank the Minister because he came to my constituency and noticed the potential which is there. Despite the area being semi-arid, we still have got rivers and water tables. We utilise underground water to do irrigation. We just need to spend little money to invest in irrigation. We cannot depend on rain-fed farming for a long time, because the rains are unreliable nowadays. We have to depend on irrigation to be able to sustain our people. I want to plead with the hon. Members; that when the Vote for the Ministry of Water and Irrigation comes to the House, we should all support it and ask for more money, so that the 1944 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 20, 2007 Ministry can help us to fight poverty that is rampant in the rural areas. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to speak for maize farmers. The Minister did not factor any money in the Budget to pay maize farmers. Maize farmers are owed Kshs1.5 billion. That was not factored in the Budget. The Minister spoke about payment of coffee farmers and other farmers, but he did not talk about maize farmers. Maize farmers also need to be paid. That is not a lot of money. The Government should set aside, at least, Kshs5 billion every year to pay maize farmers. Maize is our staple food. When the farmers are left in the hands of middlemen such as millers, they are not able to survive. The prices of fertilisers have gone up. The price of diesel and everything else has also gone up. It is frustrating when farmers are not paid. When the farmers are owed, for instance, Kshs500,000 by the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), they are sent to Equity Bank, with a letter, where they are paid in advance and charged interest for their money. That is very embarrassing to farmers, and yet the Government has money. Why can the Government not borrow Kshs1.5 billion from Equity Bank and pay the farmers? I want to encourage the Minister, out of the Kshs5.2 billion he has allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture, to consider allocating part of it to maize farmers. It is very frustrating for farmers to work half-a-year, and yet they are not paid on time. It is very important for the Minister to look into that issue. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to thank the Minister for allocating a substantial amount of money on security issues. However, as much as we are talking about insecurity, the Government should supply vehicles to all the districts, divisions and constituencies for security services because all the vehicles the Government has bought have already been allocated to specific areas. The Government should allocate a specific amount of money towards community policing so that the District Security Committees do not come here to ask for money to train people on community policing. I believe that community policing is a wonderful idea, and that is the only way we will use to fight criminals in the villages. The Government should provide funds to train and give a token to the people who work in the villages and assist the police in collecting information, among other things. That is a very important and vital department that needs to be supported by the Ministry of Finance. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to congratulate the Minister for, at least, increasing the number of teachers. He said that they would employ 11,000 teachers. I know that is not enough, but it is a step in the right direction. When the teachers are being recruited, they should be sent, specifically to schools which are understaffed. Most of the teachers are concentrated in the urban areas, which are accessible. In the first place, when they select teachers to join colleges, they select teachers from zones which are well equipped. They do not select teachers from those zones which are always understaffed. That is why schools in the rural areas are always understaffed. Therefore, the problem begins at the recruitment of teachers. So, I believe that the Ministry of Education will help us to pick teachers right from the time of recruitment. At the moment, they are recruiting teachers to join colleges. They should have an affirmative action so that teachers are recruited and sent to districts and constituencies that are in remote areas. That would reduce the perennial shortages of teachers we have all the time. We keep on asking Questions here with regard to when the Ministry will give us teachers, yet the problem begins at the point of recruitment of teachers to join colleges. They should consider the zones which are understaffed. The Ministry has information from the districts on areas which are understaffed. They should follow it when they are recruiting teachers to join colleges so that we do not have shortages. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wanted to hear the Minister say that he has allocated a certain amount of money, and this issue has been raised many times--- There are students who have completed their Form Four education but their certificates are being held by headteachers because they have not cleared their fees arrears. Hon. Members have asked Questions in this House June 20, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1945 regarding that issue. The Minister should factor in a certain amount of money to bail out these students. Most of these students engage in criminal activities because they cannot look for any employment due to lack of certificates. Some of them have passed very well but their certificates have been retained by headteachers. We are pleading with the Minister to kindly give these students a waiver so that they can be given their certificates. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the amount of money allocated to the bursary fund is not enough. My constituency was given Kshs800,000 for 600,000 students who are in secondary schools. Most of them are very poor and most of their certificates are being held by their former schools. What will we do about that? Are we going to leave them just like that? Most of the former students who do not get their certificates engage themselves in criminal activities because they cannot get money. They have to do something about it. Even in my constituency, they are the ones who raid other people's cattle because they want to sell them and pay for their certificates which are retained by their former schools. That issue should be considered seriously by the Ministry. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to add my voice to the Youth Enterprise Development Fund and the Women Enterprise Development Fund. That is a noble idea. It is wonderful. However, the logistics of implementing the two Funds are very difficult because the Government wants to create a revolving Fund. The Government wants to do business. The Government has no business doing business with anybody. It had better give out the money as a grant. The logistics involved in the Youth Enterprise Development Fund are very complicated. That is why most of the money is still lying in the banks up to now, and they are making profit using that money. It is very complicated for the Government to give out serviceable loans. The previous Government almost did the same thing, but it ended up not getting any repayments. So, this will be a failure and it should consider giving out the money as a grant. Otherwise, handling it is very complicated. The Minister said that they had provided Kshs1 billion to purchase land to settle squatters. In the last Budget, the Government allocated Kshs400 million to purchase land to settle squatters. Up to now, we have not seen any squatters who have been settled. We have been told that the Government has purchased land in Molo and Laikipia, but we have not seen people being settled in those parcels of land. I hope that this is not a trick to settle the Mungiki . I believe that the Mungiki were promised land when this Government took over. I hope that the Government will not purchase land to settle the Mungiki group. That land should benefit all people. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}