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"id": 228872,
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"speaker_name": "Mrs. Kihara",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources",
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"id": 336,
"legal_name": "Jayne Njeri Kihara",
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"content": " Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I do not know what the hon. Members mean by \"aaah!\" I am an hon. Member of this Cabinet. First and foremost, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to thank the President for recognizing that hon. Members work 25 hours a day. Before I came to this Parliament, I was earning a little over Kshs100,000 and I used to be very rich and have some shillings to spare. This big salary that members of the public are talking about, leaves me poorer than ever before. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will talk about pyrethrum, although it was talked about this morning. This issue still remains a thorn in the flesh. Parents who depend on pyrethrum to educate their children have remained poor. The Minister dissolved the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya because they were doing politics. Politics or no politics, they were saying that farmers had not been paid. That was, and still is, a fact. So, it is high time that he started paying them. Farmers know how much crop they had delivered. That information can very easily be obtained from the delivery points. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to talk about the Youth Enterprise Development Fund. It is a good thing, but there are so many things that have to be put in place. Many youths have no idea as to how to access the Fund. They need a lot of training on capacity building to ensure that these funds flow. Most of them do not even have identity cards. As you know, getting an identity card in this country has been a big problem. We have got many youths who have passed the age of 18 who do not have identity cards. As you know, an identity card is the document that will allow you to have things moving in this country. It is important for the Minister to ensure that all the youths have identity cards. There is the requirement to swear an affidavit for people who are over age. This is a tedious and very expensive affair that most of the youths will not be able to go through. For instance, young women do not apply for identity cards because, first and foremost, they want to get married, because changing the name on your identity card to reflect the name of your husband is such a complicated issue. So, by the time \"Mister Right\" comes to give his hand in marriage, those young women are over-age. Regarding those who are late in acquiring identity cards, because the Government was not facilitating issuance of the same, the Government should come up with a formula to ensure that all of them get identity cards without necessarily having to swear an affidavit. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the creating of the Women Enterprise Development Fund is the best thing that has happened to women in the recent past. Women have been used by politicians because of their disadvantageous economic position in society. Men have only used women when the former needed their votes. When women are empowered, the whole family is empowered. Regarding the constitutional review process, I would like to say that I hate the dishonesty exhibited by politicians. This is a process that has been hijacked by politicians. We know that what is good for Wanjiku is good for Atieno, Nekesa, Amina and Jebii. So, when we say that we need to give and take, I do not quite understand who gives what, and who takes what and for what purpose. If we mean business, we should remove politics from the process, so that Kenyans can get a new Constitution. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in 2002, when campaigns for the general election were going on, I happened to be part of the campaigners although I was not a candidate then. Those who are saying that His Excellency the President promised Kenyans a new Constitution in 100 days of his leadership, were in the Opposition then. In particular, I must say that the situation in 176 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 28, 2007 Naivasha Constituency was very delicate then. The seat nearly went to the Opposition. I must thank Mr. Raila, because he actually saved the day. His message to the people of Naivasha then was: \"We will give you a new Constitution in 100 days\". So, this was actually coming from those who were in the field, campaigning for NARC in 2002. It is very unfortunate that leaders are the ones who are the worst tribalists. I know for certain - as the Member of Parliament for Naivasha, and given that the Mai Mahiu-Lanet Road project is in my constituency - that the then Minister for Roads and Public Works ensured that only one community got all the jobs there. So, when leaders stand up here to talk about others, or to try to remove the speck in other leaders' eyes, they should, first of all, worry about the log in their own eyes."
}