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"id": 229307,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Odoyo",
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"legal_name": "Peter Ochieng Odoyo",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. As I make my comments on the President's Speech, I wish to refer to the introductory part of it which read: \"A dream of a well- governed country that is prosperous, just and equitable.\" I will show that, indeed, our country today is not well-governed, prosperous and very much not equitable. With regard to prosperity, we know very well that, indeed, this country has grown, as they say. But the wealth creation they are referring to is in the services sector. It is the stock markets, the cellphones and the banking industry that are making billions. It has been shown that the poverty index in this country has risen. That has been proved by surveys by the Central Bureau of Statistics March 27, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 139 and the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP). The question is: If we are growing, why are the people of Kenya becoming poorer? If we are growing, the people are supposed to be richer. The truth is that we are becoming poorer. Why are we becoming poorer? It is because this country is not just. This Government has failed to put in place a just Government, beginning with the law courts. Today, if you are not wealthy and do not have money in this country, you cannot get justice. If you do not have money, your file will disappear. You will be murdered and killed by a rich man, and you will never receive justice. This country is not giving justice to the poor. Time has come for us to question the issue of equatability. It has been proven and tabled in this House that, indeed, the resources of this country are not equitably being distributed. It has been shown that most of the roads funds go to a particular region. It has also been shown in this House that the bulk of the water budget goes to a particular region. The same has been shown for health and many other sectors. That is not equity. Therefore, this particular Government has, indeed, shown Kenyans the way a country should not be governed. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, today, among the 42 tribes in this country, you will find an accountant, a lawyer, an engineer, an economist and all manner of professionals. It is not as it used to be in 1963 when lawyers, engineers and accountants were only available in the two big tribes then - the Kikuyu and the Luo. Today, if you want a particular professional, you will get one in any tribe. Therefore, it cannot be that only one particular region is qualified. There is something wrong which must be addressed. Secondly, this House has, indeed, done its job. We gave this particular Government the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act. But it has failed to implement that particular Act. Up to today, not a single person has been taken to court on the Goldenberg and Anglo leasing scandals. Those are the big crimes that affect this country. It is not those people who have stolen Kshs1,000 from a Ministry, taken a bribe of Kshs1,000 or a policeman who has taken a bribe of Kshs200. The big crimes that affect the lives of the people of this country are the white collar crimes running into billions of shillings. Those people continue to walk scot-free and propagate that they are the ones who are legally rich and yet, they acquired their wealth through illegal means. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this House gave the Government the Financial Management Act. Yes, indeed, they have improved or increased our revenue collection. But on the same breath, the expenditure side has gone to the dogs. Today, the amount of waste, theft and corruption on the expenditure side goes unabated. Yes, the Government has raised Kshs450 billion. But you are also stealing Kshs150 billion. That is more than what the previous Governments stole in all the 40 years. There is something completely wrong with this Government's inability to respond to the various Acts that we have enacted in this particular House. It has even failed to implement the simple ones like the Public Officers Ethic Act of 2003! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me talk about the much talked about Women Enterprise Development Fund and the Youth Enterprise Development Fund. At the bottom of it, it is meant to create employment and regenerate our economy. But it is a wrong policy. Let us look at history. The recent history in memory may be the American the depression and the Chinese revival. When the Americans had depression, they implemented large public sector projects involving manual labour. They built big highways using manual labour from New York to Los Angeles. That is what the Chinese copied in the 1980s and 1990s. They undertook large public sector projects involving the youth, who built roads and other large public sector projects. They were paid cash, so that they could regenerate the rural economy. It is not enough to say that you are giving Kshs1 million to a fund in a constituency. In my Nyakach Constituency, I have over 100 youth organisations. What will Kshs1 million do for them? At the end of the day, they might end up getting Kshs10,000 to Kshs20,000, which is not even enough capital to buy a welding machine. So, there is a fallacy that we have not addressed the youth agenda. We must address the youth and the 140 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 27, 2007 women agenda using concrete measures. To throw money around and assume that we have solved a problem is deceiving this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, on the issue of arid and semi-arid areas (ASAL), during the last Parliament, Nyanza was declared an ASAL area. This Government is yet to implement projects in Nyanza, particularly, rice schemes. Of the Kshs12 billion spent in ASAL areas, not even a single pipe of water has gone to the North Eastern Province. Where did Kshs12 billion go to? The North Eastern Province requires water; so give them water. You say you have spent Kshs12 billion, where did it go to? It is time for us to ask. Did it go into personal pockets? Yes, indeed, because if you were to give me Kshs12 billion and tell me to send pipes to every constituency in North Eastern Province, I will do so and give them water. On the issue of rural electrification, it is true that there is this programme. However, the bulk of the money is going to a particular region. We are being fooled by a few lines but where is the bulk of the power going? If you look at that particular budget worth Kshs5 billion, Kshs3.5 billion has gone to one particular region while Kshs1.5 billion is to be spent by the rest of the country. Who is cheating who that we have provided electricity? You have provided electricity to yourselves and you are \"cheating\" us that you have provided it to us. Again, equity and utilisation-- - Do not look at me, Mr. Munya! Let me continue."
}