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"id": 229391,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/229391/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mrs. Mugo",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Education",
"speaker": {
"id": 85,
"legal_name": "Beth Wambui Mugo",
"slug": "beth-mugo"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for being gender sensitive. I am happy to contribute to this Motion. I wish to start by commending His Excellency the President for giving this House the direction it should take in order to move this country forward. His Excellency the President demonstrated maturity and statesmanship in his Speech. He showed that he is not swayed one way or the other by criticisms which, sometimes, are not meant for growth, but to put the people off the track. Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me also thank His Excellency the President for telling this House that the Government is not against reforms, especially constitutional reforms. Indeed, the Government has been at the fore-front in trying to give this country a new Constitution. But road blocks were placed on the way of the same policies by the same people who are now advocating for them to be passed. It is good because they have seen the sense of those constitutional reforms. But people should not be misled that there are certain people who do not want constitutional reforms. We advocated for comprehensive reforms. That is what Kenyans wanted. But because the political class wasted so much time arguing with each other, the time for comprehensive reforms ran out. Therefore, as we enter into dialogue, it is my believe that we should focus on the very necessary reforms, and not the fundamental reforms which, in my mind, are not minimum. Reforms such as demanding a 50 per cent plus one vote and a run off by presidential aspirants are in no way minimum! That is very fundamental. That is why I call upon this House to be mature. We should focus on what is good for Kenyans. We should chart the way forward and decide what we can do and what we cannot do. Any fundamental change must be reserved for Kenyans to decide. Kenyans have the authority to make such changes. Ours should be more or less administrative. Mr. Speaker, Sir, still on the constitutional review process, let me remind this House that affirmative action was unanimously passed by the 8th Parliament. We agreed on 30 per cent women representation. That was then forwarded to the Bomas Conference. At Bomas, again, it was also agreed upon . It will be very wrong for this House to review that percentage, as we have heard from minimum reformers, to 24 per cent. The 24 per cent is neither an international norm--- We have signed the international statutes that specifically state 30 per cent. Kenya is a signatory to that statute. Mr. Speaker, Sir, His Excellency the President has also shown the way and said that 30 per cent of public appointments should be reserved for women. It will be a shame for this House to drag us back to 24 per cent. We will resist that very strongly. Let me also, on behalf of Kenyan women - because I have talked to several of them and others have called me - thank His Excellency the President for the Fund that his Government has set up for women. We were surprised to hear some people argue that it was an election gimmick. Why was it not done four years ago?. This Government had to prioritise. We know that free primary education has taken a lot of money. There are also the bursaries and Constituencies Development Fund (CDF). You cannot do everything at once. Only those who do not have an analytical mind can plunge the country into darkness and horror by trying to do everything yesterday, and fail to sustain it. We thank His Excellency the President for that Fund. That is timely and we look forward to it. Women are very excited about that Fund. That is one way of reducing poverty. Mr. Speaker, Sir, free primary education was another way of reducing poverty. We are surprised sometimes when we hear that people who were paying for primary education had no roads to pass through to the markets and lacked many other amenities meant to reduce poverty. Claiming that people are poorer now than they were then is not honest. On the issue of education, our Ministry is geared towards sustaining the free primary education. We are negotiating with the Minister for Finance to employ another 40,000 teachers in the near future if they can be accommodated in the Budget. We want to make sure that for free primary education, there are classes and the ratio is proper. However, let me assure you that even 70 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 22, 2007 the last examination has shown that the quality is not lower. Indeed, it has gone up. The children performed well! Mr. Speaker, Sir, on special education, my Ministry gives double the amount of capitation for children with disabilities compared to those who have no disabilities. So, we are paying a lot of attention to those needs. Indeed, we had the policy of integration; of bringing the children with disabilities who can be integrated into ordinary schools so that they may, from a very early stage, learn to live normally with their peers during school and when they become of working age. Indeed, we need improvement. There is always room for improvement all the time. However, we are addressing it and more money will be allocated to that sector. On secondary education, my Ministry is very serious on making sure that education in secondary schools is affordable. That is why we give guidelines on controlled fees. Unfortunately, there are some who still disregard that but parents can resist. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in areas where there is drought and where we know there have been successive tragedies, for instance, the outbreak of the Rift Valley Fever (RVF) and drought, we have requested that the children are not sent out of classrooms for lack of fees. That is a guideline from the Ministry. If any children are being sent away, attention should be drawn to us so that we can intervene. We are very sensitive on that issue. We are also in the process of joining early childhood education to free primary education so that children can have two years of free pre-primary education. So, we have many plans of improving education in this country and I urge this House to give us maximum support. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have the African Development Bank (ADB) which has promised to support construction of more secondary schools, besides OPEC. So, we are heeding your calls. However, it also still lies with the parents and the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) to do more in the construction of secondary schools. Let me, before my time is over, congratulate the Minister for Water and Irrigation because he is doing a very good job. He is sinking boreholes and constructing dams all over. However, I think he has forgotten Nairobi a little bit. In Nairobi, we are in dire need of water. My constituency, Dagoretti, in Ngando, Riruta and Kawangware areas, we go for weeks and even months before we get a drop of water even during the two days that we are supposed to have it. So, I hope the Minister for Water and Irrigation, as he does what he is doing in the countryside, will remember that we do not have any rivers in Nairobi. We only have Nairobi River and we cannot get clean water from it. We are in dire need of support. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to commend the Office of the Vice-President and Ministry of Home Affairs and the Minister in charge of Youth Affairs for the Youth Enterprise Development Fund. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}