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"id": 229511,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/229511/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Tuju",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Foreign Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 345,
"legal_name": "Raphael Tuju",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for granting me the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I would have wished to make my contribution when the Leader of the Official Opposition is here, but since he is not here, I trust that the Opposition Chief Whip hon. Muturi, who is here, will convey this message to him. I listened very carefully when hon. Uhuru lamented about multiparty democracy in this country. He exercised his freedom and licence to criticise President Kibaki for the concept of the Government of National Unity (GNU). It is his right to make that criticism. However, I wanted to have this message conveyed to the Leader of the Official Opposition; that he needs to buy new glasses next time he is going to buy a shirt. He could be using a very harsh detergent because his red shirt is now looking orange. Before he makes that statement, I would suggest that he buys new glasses when he goes to buy a new shirt so that he can, at least, buy a red shirt. This is because the shirts I have seen him wear of late are very orange and not red. In case he does not buy new glasses, I would like to ask hon. Muturi to accompany him so that he can show him what a red shirt looks like. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I take this opportunity to congratulate this Government and the President. I also want to applaud the President's commitment that, from now on, we must focus on secondary education. Indeed, our children leaving primary schools at the ages of 13 and 14 years are at such a tender age that we should not be releasing them to join the ranks of millions who are unemployed and hanging all over the country. The education sector is very important. If anything, education makes a difference in the lives of young people. There are examples all over the world. There is no precedence in the history of civilisation of mankind where it has been possible without education; wether we are talking March 22, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 97 about the Roman Empire, the British Empire or the Chinese Civilisation. There is no precedence, before a critical mass of the population are literate. That is why the policy of extending education to our young people is essential. It is important and should be compulsory for all school-going aged children. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one may take the example of South Korea. Today, it is the 11th most industrialised country in the whole world. About 40 years ago, South Korea had the same Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as Kenya and Ghana. However, there was something else which South Korea had which Kenya did not. That was human capital in terms of an educated population. Today, 70 per cent of Koreans go through university education. Compare that with Kenya where the percentage is much less. Definitely, it is less than ten per cent. The transition from primary to secondary school in Kenya is 60 per cent. In South Korea, it is way over 95 per cent. So we should not expect that we will get into that fast track of development before we have a critical mass of this country being literate. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, indeed, as we grapple with problems of negative ethnicity or tribalism, we will not be able to put an appreciable dent on that problem before we have a critical mass of this country being well educated. Let me go to the issue of the Youth Development Fund. So many of us have expressed our opinions on this. Therefore, I would not want to dwell on it for a long time. There is no country which can hope to develop and make a difference unless it has a vision for that significant part of its population which is its youth. We have a lot to applaud this Government for; one of them, is the Youth Development Fund. The Women Development Fund is a welcome addition to this. I can say that the Youth Development Fund is not enough. We must work towards increasing its amount. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have a lot to celebrate which the President pointed out. I do not want to dwell on the issue. However, it is significant for us to note, for example, the Kshs7 billion, that has been appropriated for Rural Electrification Programme (REP) in the last four years, is more than what was appropriated for the same, between 1963 and 2002. In tourism, we jumped from 200,000 tourists in 2002 to 1.8 million last year. That is three times the number in just a period of four years. The income from tourism rose from Kshs23 billion to Kshs56 billion. One can go on and on. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me confirm, and I can say this without any risk of contradiction, that all this is not possible unless we have peace prevailing in this country. It is not only peace to prevail in this country, but there must be a perception out there, even in the international community, for us to attract direct foreign investment. We are not going to have that perception and sending the right message if everyday, we are demonstrating, quarrelling and abusing each other. In conclusion, let me go back to where I started. I said that I would have wished to see the Leader of Official Opposition wearing his red T-shirt rather than a yellow one, if he is talking about building multiparty democracy and integrity of opposition politics in this country. We can embrace a vision of a kinder, fairer and more prosperous country if we avoid negative passion along ethnic lines. I can say that a red T-shirt is not too far from a red rose. All of us can work across the political divide for a kinder, fairer and more prosperous country. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}