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"id": 229382,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Mwiraria",
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"legal_name": "David Mwiraria",
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, one of the steps that the Government needs to take to attain economic independence is to be able to finance its Budget fully. With only 4 per cent to go, the Government is not very far. We need to urge the Government to collect more taxes. In fact, we do not need to have tax increases, but to collect taxes fully in order to attain that position. Once we attain that position, we should also strive to get Kenya given a credit rating by an accepted credit rating organisation like the Standards and Polls which has already given the country a B-Plus. Once we attain that position, the country then should be free to borrow for its development projects from outside. Many of the essential projects such as roads and power stations should be able to pay back the borrowed funds. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Government has already got the 2030 Industrialisation Programme, but we need to be a little bit more specific. We need to ask ourselves how we can make this country self-sufficient in food and speed up industrialisation. We need to pay attention to March 22, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 65 agriculture and look at the crops that we use for staple food. We should also develop grains that can grow in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) and more importantly, establish farming regimes which help farmers to prepare the land and plant early, so that they can catch every bit of rainfall. In the field of industrialisation, we need to copy what other countries such as Japan, China and India have done. They have started off with factories that make tools and have established science parts. We should also look critically at the infrastructure in Kenya by, for example, establishing a free port in Mombasa. We also need to improve our links with the neighbouring countries, especially Somalia, Ethiopia, Southern Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in the area of education, although we rightly rolled out the free primary education, we need to pay more attention to secondary education. I support those who have requested that the Government makes adequate teachers available in all our schools. At the moment, some schools are operating without the staff strength. Regarding education, there is one area which I believe needs special attention. This is the area of special education; education for those who are disabled in one form or another. These are the blind, the deaf and the mentally handicapped. We do not appear to be paying adequate attention to the disabled children, who are very many around the country. I urge that we pay more attention to special education. We should increase the budget for special education and ensure that the disabled are properly taken care of. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also believe that we need to look critically at university education. The last few years have been associated with what I may call a Harambee university, which started off with 14 students about ten years ago, and which today has 2,600 students. Today, that university is self-financing. We need to urge our Government to consider financing only two aspects of the public universities that we have. First, it should make sure that all deserving students get adequate financing, so that they can go through university without hassles. This means that the Government needs to set aside adequate money for loans and bursaries to all the students. The second area, and I think this is important, is providing money for research. Thereafter, the universities should finance themselves from what they get from fees and other ways which they have already devised. Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me quickly refer to the Youth Enterprise Development Fund. This is an excellent idea, but it will take time for the youth to be able to utilise those funds. I believe that one thing that is critically missing is the need to train young people because it is one thing saying, \"here is money\" and another thing for them to know how to spend the money. So, my humble suggestion is that the Ministry should put in place a training programme, which exposes youths in different parts of this country to what is available for them to do in their areas. They need to know what projects they can start. If it is an agricultural area, maybe they can extract juices from fruits and learn how to make items like potato chips and crisps, so that they can then start projects which are bankable. I welcome the idea of the Women Enterprise Development Fund. I am sure women will not have difficulties in using their money because many of them are already doing businesses. Let me finally say that this country needs additional constituencies and I urge the Government to implement this as soon as possible. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}