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"speaker_name": "Mr. Miriti",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Trade and Industry",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I stand to support the Budget Speech. I congratulate the Minister for Finance for a very balanced Budget and for the performance which has been witnessed in this country in the last four-and-a-half years. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, some of us have found this Budget too ambitious. However, depending and based on the already recorded performance in this country and what we have realised in this country, this Budget is realistic and, indeed, it will be proved true. It will be real. What has been said will be actualised because, in the past, we have seen very good performance in this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, some of us also have challenged the economic growth. Indeed, one hon. Member here said that he visited India and saw the economic growth which he has not seen here. I really do not understand what he means by visiting India and seeing that it was growing. I do not know how one can witness growth in one or two weeks, or even if he stayed there for a month. It means that some of us are, indeed, living in Kenya, but they do not know what is happening here. One just needs to walk around the streets of Nairobi, if he was here before 2002 and see what changes have taken place. One needs to visit schools in Kenya and see for himself what has happened throughout the country. In fact, there has been a revolution in the education system. One needs to visit the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC), Kenya Airways and also move around to see what has happened in this June 19, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1879 country in terms of economic improvement. This can only be witnessed with the improvements in various sectors. One needs to know how much money public servants are getting in terms of salaries and allowances to know that we have realised economic growth in this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to congratulate the Minister for Finance for addressing the issue of employment of teachers. I need to caution him that while teachers have been employed in the past in this country and while we have followed the quota system, there are areas which have been neglected completely. There are districts where teachers who completed their training programmes as early as 1996 to 1998 have not been employed because of the quota system. I would like to ask the Minister for Education, once he gets his allocation, to make sure that he employs those teachers who completed their courses earlier than others. It is not fair to employ teachers who completed their courses in 2006 when we have teachers who completed their courses in 1996/1997 still waiting. We need that equitable distribution addressed. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is the issue of cigarettes. The Minister said that he wanted to promote equity within the cigarette industry by categorising the existing brands of cigarettes. He imposed taxes based on the categories \"B\", \"C\" and \"D\" and each category had its own share of tax. I would like him to look at it very closely. This is because by so doing it appeared as if he was favouring some companies while punishing out others. Some companies might have to shoulder very heavy tax burdens, while others will be rejoicing and making more profit. So, let the Minister for Finance look at that, because Kenyans have seen what has happened and they know exactly what is taking place. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have seen very good performance in revenue collection. I want to congratulate the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) for the very good work done. It is through that big achievement that revenue collections have gone up from Kshs210 billion to Kshs376 billion; no wonder the Budget is being seen as ambitious. This is because when there is such collection, there is a lot of improvement in development. We have seen a lot of work being done in this country in the water development sector. I am surprised that my colleagues from pastoralist areas are complaining when, in fact, we know that most of the money in the Budget is going to those areas in terms of the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) programmes, water development and energy development. I understand that almost every school has got solar panels. A lot of work has been done in these areas with the money collected from the taxpayers. It is important for those who benefit from Kenyan taxpayers' money to appreciate it, rather than to continue complaining. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Kenya has resolved to be a working nation. But, surprisingly, I think there is quite a sizeable number of Kenyans who have refused to work. In fact, most of those who do not work are the biggest and major complainants. They just stay idle and wait for Government support. They should realize the fact that the money which they ask the Government to release in order to develop their areas with, is raised from the workers. It is raised from those people who do not waste their time, but spend it working in order to earn money which is finally taxed. So, all Kenyans should work hard, so that we can improve and develop this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we know that we have realised many achievements within a very short time. In Kenya, today, medicine to cure malaria, tuberculosis and anti-retroviral drugs are provided free-of-charge. Likewise, maternity services are free. We have also seen a lot of development in various sectors including roads, energy, water and education. The Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) and Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC) were revived. Also, sugar and coffee farmers are getting more money. That is a great achievement in terms of the performance of this Government. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have seen people getting employment by the day. All those economic improvements are a confirmation that jobs have been created and more Kenyans are 1880 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 19, 2007 working. Anybody who says that Kenyans are not enjoying better employment opportunities is, really, not a very good observer. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, because of the improved image and state of security in the country, and the success achieved in the war against corruption, so many tourists continue to come into our country. Most of the hotels are full. If you speak to any hotelier, he will tell you that everything now is fine. Even in the manufacturing industry, there have been a lot of achievements. Kenya is continuing to grow. Because of what has happened to the KMC, so many pastoralists have increased their stock. What I would ask the Minister for Finance to do is to consider restocking animals in North Eastern Province, as has been said here severally, because of what it went through during the period we experienced famine and bad weather. We can only improve the lives of our people if we could encourage them to get involved in higher production. We can only encourage them by assisting them to re-stock. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, a lot of work has been done in fighting poverty in this country."
}