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"id": 229416,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/229416/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. M.Y. Haji",
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"speaker": {
"id": 26,
"legal_name": "Yusuf Mohammed Haji",
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"content": "I would, however, like to commend him for dealing with me at the time I went to his office. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wrote to the Minister for Energy, Mr. Murungi, on 30th November, 2006, about electricity in Ijara Constituency, but it is a pity that up to today, I have not heard from him. I have visited his office twice, but could not find him. Is this not a sleeping Government? What is the use of us being hon. Members of Parliament, if we cannot access Government offices? How can ordinary people in the streets access them? Mr. Speaker, Sir, on 3rd, January, 2007, Ethiopian forces invaded Somalia and killed a lady in Ijara Constituency and wounded another person. I wrote a letter to the Office of the President and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I even took up the matter with His Excellency the President. He directed officers to do something about the issue but up to today, nothing has been done. Mr. Speaker, Sir, there is a man by the name Mohammed Doble who was working for United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kismayu, Somalia. Simply because he was sitting in an office with a computer and had a satellite telephone, he was picked by the Ethiopian forces. Up to today, we do not know where he is. I took up the matter with the foreign office and His Excellency the President. From January to date, we do not know the fate of this gentleman. Is this really the Government that we elected to lead us? His Excellency the President may have good intentions, but I am sorry to say he neither has Ministers nor Permanent Secretaries with good intentions. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to commend the Minister for Education for the good work he is doing in the North Eastern Province. We have been assisted in very many ways. However, I want to pick up a bone with the Assistant Minister who said that because of drought and RVF, children should not be chased from schools. Head teachers will chase them from schools because what will March 22, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 75 they eat without paying school fees? If school fees are waived, the Ministry should provide funds to these schools. This would enable teachers to teach and the students to be fed. There is no way students can learn without an up keep. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the Youth Enterprise Development Fund, I am sorry to say that in spite of the fact that the Government has set aside a lot of money for this project, 80 per cent of the money is being deposited in bank accounts to earn profits. Only 20 per cent is given to every constituency. This is an equivalent of about Kshs1 million. How many people will benefit from this money? We are told that the minimum amount one can apply for is Kshs10,000. What is Kshs10,000 today? You cannot even buy a pair of good shoes in Nairobi with that amount of money. To compound the issue, in North Eastern Province, we do not have banks! We only have banks in Garissa and Mandera. How would our children access this fund? Mr. Speaker, Sir, there are District Trade Boards (DTBs) in all districts. Why can this money not be channelled through the DTB, so that children can access it easily? Mr. Speaker, Sir, on identity cards---"
}