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"speaker_name": "Mr. Angwenyi",
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"legal_name": "Jimmy Nuru Ondieki Angwenyi",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me a chance to contribute to the debate on this Motion. I would like to thank hon. Ojode for being concerned about the welfare of the poor people of this country. Every time multinational oil companies increase the prices of petroleum products, they affect every sector of our economy. Regarding transport, farmers who rely on tractors to plough their shambas have to pay more money than they used to, previously. That affects the cost of production. When oil companies increase the prices of fuel, it affects the transport needs of the common man. That is why when you use Langata Road and Mbagathi Road in the morning, you will see many poor people trekking from Kibera to the Industrial Area to look for jobs. These people cannot afford money for transport because of the increase in the price of petrol.Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let us take the case of a grandmother who uses kerosene to light her house but because the price of fuel has gone up, she has to opt for firewood because she cannot afford kerosene. I happen to have worked for the oil industry immediately after graduating from the university. Those days, oil prices were controlled and companies would appeal to the Government to increase the prices. The Government then, knew that the price of fuel affects every sector of the economy and especially those sectors that directly affect the poor people. Somehow, the companies made reasonable returns on their investments. These days, oil companies make huge amounts of returns and save their earnings abroad. They do not invest the money locally, in this country. That is why Shell and BP had to withdraw its operations from the western part of this country because they were not making as much money as they were making in Nairobi. Therefore, we should support this Motion and urge the Government to control the prices of petroleum products. Of course the Government is not unreasonable. It will allow the companies to make fair returns; at least 2 to 3 per cent, but not 50 per cent profit. To compound the matters, these companies make huge profits and, yet they retrench their staff. They do not employ many people. They decrease the number of their staff so that they can make a saving on that and increase the price of fuel so as to make more money.If you visit a country like South Africa, you will find that the prices of essential goods and services are controlled by the Government. South Africa is a darling of the West, the same West which imposes conditions upon us. These are conditions such as liberalising our industrial sectors. If you recall the history of liberalisation in Kenya, hon. M'Mukindia went to Marrakesh in Morocco with one November 15, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3653 member of staff from his Ministry. He was persuaded, I do not have the facts, I believe, to sign an agreement that Kenya would liberalise the oil sector. That is why we liberalised the prices of essential goods and our exchange control regime, such that today, a foreigner can come to this country and borrow money, buy our coffee, export it abroad, get the proceeds and leave the money abroad. We are actually exporting our economy overseas. We are exporting our wealth and employment overseas. This is done, particularly by the oil industry. Since we do not produce any oil, these companies blackmail our Government as well as our people. They set crude oil prices abroad, something we have no control over. Every time there is a small increase of crude oil abroad, the oil companies immediately increase the prices of refined products, without waiting to receive the stock for which prices have been increased. However, when crude oil prices go down, the companies do not bring down the prices of fuel.These people are very powerful. The Minister for Finance requested them to reduce oil prices but with impunity, they told him that they could not reduce them. I have not seen business firms which are as arrogant as the oil companies in this country. I believe we will have a Bill on Energy tabled in this House, that will be discussed, maybe, today or tomorrow. I urge hon. Members to propose amendments so that we include the essential ingredients of this Motion. If we pass it today, we will have given ourselves more leverage to make amendments so that we can protect the interests of poor Kenyans. In fact, even the interests of big time Kenyans, the ones who drive Mercedes Benz vehicles will be met. They will be able to spend less on the vehicles than they are spending now, if we reduce prices of fuel. What we need to do more is to support our poor people; my mother and grandmother and even my great grandmother if she is alive. We need to support those children who use lantern lamps to study at night and schools which provide tuition in the evening. We need to give them the capacity to offer proper education. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}