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"id": 229261,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Midiwo",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me an opportunity to contribute on the President's Speech. First of all, there were several omissions from that Speech. I gather that the issues of corruption, tribalism, insecurity and issues of finance and were deliberately omitted by the President because they would elicit truthful and negative debate on the performance of this Government. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President did not talk about some issues which, personally, I think that with a little bit of more information, it would have been very good for this country. As a Member of Parliament from the Lake Region, I was happy that the President was trying to address the issue of the fishing industry. But the President did not talk about the fact that the lake, which gives the second-highest tax to the Exchequer, has been taken over by the water hyacinth. The Government should do this, particularly for a region that voted for it 97.7 per cent. That was not there and I think that needs to come out, and the President needs to know that our votes were not for nothing, because they are not getting anything in return. The Lake Region gives the second-highest taxes to the Exchequer. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the finance sector, which is not being addressed, is going to run down the economy. The good work being done by this Government is being negated by the plunder, theft and the cunning nature of the so-called \"finance sector\". The Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) which we keep on talking about--- In fact, this year, that argument has gone down. Kenyans have been hoodwinked into investing into people's personal IPOs and now that things are going bad, nobody is talking about that sector. The Government needs to address the issue of the ownership of the banks. I was very happy, in the last couple of years, when the Government went out of its way to encourage indigenous banks. But some mischief has crept in. I was a Member and I am still a Member of the Finance, Planning and Trade Committee that was mandated to look into the issue of the Charterhouse Bank. That bank was being accused of money laundering and all kinds of bad things. The Committee visited the bank, took evidence, and scrutinized it thoroughly. There was a statutory manager and there is still a statutory manager appointed, and we spoke to everybody from every corner. Despite this, no action has been taken and that does not give much credence to the banking sector. If a bank is under statutory management and a statutory manager has been put there, they need to update the economy. So, we know the truth! The word out there is that the idea of pushing the issue of the Charterhouse Bank to the Finance, Planning and Trade Committee was stage-managed to vindicate Charterhouse Bank. But we found no evidence of money laundering in Charterhouse Bank; we found no evidence of wrong-doing other than not knowing their customers, which the Government itself found and fined the bank. Until today, that bank is still closed and the Finance, Planning and Trade Committee of this House is being accused to have colluded. In fact, foreign governments are calling the Committee to ask us to re-open that debate, even before the Government has given us evidence. That is wrong and it is not good for our finance sector. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of corruption was not mentioned in the President's Speech. In fact, the President said that there was \"perception of corruption\". Contrary to that, corruption has now come back in full force. We have more corruption from the police officers to the highest-ranking officers in this country. As Kenyans, we need to be abreast to the fact that we are riddled with corruption as a people; we are inherently corrupt and we are very tribalistic. Unless we accept that, we cannot cure our own ills. That issue was not adequately addressed by the March 27, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 133 President as it should have been. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is the issue of tribalism, and I want to commend my good friend, Mr. Ojode, for having spoken about this issue. This country missed a perfect and an excellent opportunity for having its first woman Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya and what was her crime? She was not from a particular tribe. We must say these things! I want to commend Mr. Ojode for doing that. These issues must be brought out. If you go to the Office of the President, which is just one example, and it is even in this Parliament and in the Ministry of Education--- But let me just take the Office of the President as an example. Everybody in the Office of the President who matters comes from central Kenya region!"
}