HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 217877,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/217877/?format=api",
"text_counter": 236,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Billow",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 260,
"legal_name": "Billow Adan Kerrow",
"slug": "billow-kerrow"
},
"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, those berries are poisonous and yet, we can come here and say we are doing very well! If you look at the document that was published by the Minister, it says that there are pockets of poverty. We cannot talk about pockets of poverty. I come from a region that is not a pocket! The Economic Survey shows that the average poverty in the entire North Eastern Province is 74 per cent. It has increased from 58 per cent in 1997. Under the watch of this regime, it has shot up to 74 per cent. If you take the case of Coast Province, the average poverty level went up from 62 per cent to 70 per cent last year. But the Minister was very careful when he said that poverty has reduced in Nyanza Province. But if you look at the Economic Survey, they attribute two projects to the 20 per cent poverty reduction - the Dominion Rice Project and the Millennium Development Village in Nyanza Province. That is a small village in Nyanza Province. Honestly, that cannot reduce poverty by 20 per cent. But you know that there is a bit of politics that the Government, as usual, is playing. Mr. Speaker, Sir, poverty is there. All the reports that have been issued by Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the last one to two years, including the World Bank and the United Nations, have indicated that poverty is still above 55 per cent. Never mind the Government's integrated household survey which said that poverty is at 49 per cent in the rural areas. That is a major concern. We need not celebrate. There is still a lot of work to be done. The Minister needs to target poverty as the main thing that he needs to fight. The other most important thing is inequality. We may be poor, but there is inequality which is more serious than poverty. In other words, one section of the community lives very comfortably and affluently while other sections of this country are surviving on wild berries. This inequality is perfectly captured in a document that was issued last month. The document is known as Readings on Inequality in Kenya, published by the Society for International Development. I want to quote from it. It says:- \"The nature of public spending and operation of the credit market, regional distribution of recurrent expenditure and public employment policies perpetuate inequalities in Kenya.\" These are not my words. They are the words of the experts who did the survey and published that report last month. Indeed, the manner in which we conduct ourselves, in terms of public expenditure, in our Budget, the way we allocate resources in this country and conduct the employment of senior public officers, is seriously contributing to gross inequalities in the lives of Kenyans. Mr. Speaker, Sir, they recommended that we must develop a holistic, strategic approach to this. This calls for a major revision of our governance structures. We need to look at the values and principles in which our Government operates. These things were captured very well in the constitutional review process. Unless we address the issues of governance, we will continue having one section of the community living an affluent life and another in abject poverty. June 19, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1869 Mr. Speaker, Sir, this inequality is what increases insecurity and causes the problems we have in this country. However, in his Budget Speech, in order to give that feel-good attitude, the Minister glossed over it. He said we are also reducing inequality because the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) has gone up. That is not the way! What we need to hear from the Minister is that given that Turkana District has 95 per cent of its population living below the poverty line, the highest in the country, how is he allocating resources to it to address that inequality? Mr. Speaker, Sir, when we start looking at the Estimates next week, we will be able to prove that, indeed, the Minister did not allocate resources based on that report or the fact that some areas really deserved more allocation. That is the way we can address this inequality. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are told, and very remarkably that the growth of the economy is 6.1 per cent. I think we need to be very positive. But we have asked time and again; what sectors of the economy have contributed to that growth? It is there in the Economic Survey Report. There are three key sectors which have contributed to the 6.1 per cent economic growth rate. These are horticulture, telecommunications and tourism sectors. These are sectors of the economy some of us call the elitists sectors. They are not for the ordinary mwananchi . That is why everywhere we go, people are complaining that they do not feel the growth and they do not see anything trickling to them. The Minister should be telling Kenyans which are the areas which have the major sources of decline in the economy. Perhaps, I think it is important we start looking at, not just the sectors that are doing very well, but at the sectors that are declining. Perhaps, those are the sectors which affect the common man most. Again, in the Economic Survey Report, these sectors are clearly stated. I will give examples; in the Properties and Business Services Sector, there was a growth of 32 per cent in 2002, while last year, it grew by only 3.2 per cent. The Minister needs to tell us why this is so. Secondly, we come to manufacturing, particularly food and beverages. In the Economic Survey Report, you will be surprised to know that it grew by 22 per cent in 2002 and only 5.9 per cent last year. It has been declining consistently. Some sub-sectors of manufacturing have grown, but the ones that deal with foods and beverages--- That is where most of these small sectors manufacturing companies have been declining. Mr. Speaker, Sir, another important sector is transport. This sector has gone down from 19.5 per cent in 2002 to only 8.4 per cent last year. I think it is time we looked at those sectors that are critical to our people. When we talk of agriculture, we need to look at cereals and why we are not doing well. Why is the livestock sector not being addressed? This is a very important sector that contributes up to 16 per cent of the Gross Domestic Produce (GDP)."
}