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{
    "id": 235968,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/235968/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 285,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, also, when we are talking of microfinance activities, I want to urge the Minister to also relax the rules that requires the owners and directors to--- This is because if I have Khs1 million to start a microfinance activity and the rules are requiring that I cannot be the chair of the company and the managing director as well--- You know, most of these are family activities and it is good if you relax that so that if they outgrow the microfinance bracket, then they move to the bank level. You can then apply the rules against the directors also being involved in the day-to-day management, because the moment you make it top-heavy in terms of management where you have a chairman, managing director and general manager, then the costs are transferred to the small people that we are trying to protect, so that when they borrow, then they are charged more interest and this is not helpful. I hope my colleague, the Minister will look at that. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is also something minor on the disqualifications of persons to become directors. I do not know whether the Minister put there this Clause 21 (b) disqualifying persons from holding persons on the basis of being involved in theft, fraud, forgery, causing financial loss or perjury. I think the offence of perjury there is misplaced because perjury is an offence where you tell a lie to court on oath, and you can tell a lie to court in a traffic offence. That cannot disqualify you from being a director of a microfinance institution. I think I want to urge the Minister again to remove that because it does not add value. The rest are okay. People who are fraudulent, thieves, forgers and so on have no business in microfinance activities because those are positions of trust and perjury can easily be abused because it is not something that should be here. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, after the passing of this Bill, I hope that we will then correspondingly improve our Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) Act so that in future, if a constituency wants to place some money from CDF in a microfinance outfit to help the poor of the poor in a particular constituency, it will be possible to do so; so that the market women who require only a capital of Kshs500 but cannot raise it do not have to go to the Member of Parliament or councillor. They can simply walk to an available microfinance outfit where there is already capital from CDF and borrow Kshs1,000 to improve either the vegetable business or a bicycle repair 3526 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 8, 2006 business. They can borrow Kshs2,000 to sell cane for people to chew along the road, and this is how economies grow. I know people who have grown like that. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was making a joke about what hon. Dr. Oburu was saying about a prostitute who is now a landlord. These things happen. I know a young man who I once represented in a robbery case, who is now a rich man owning about six matatus in town, just because he went to a microfinance institution and he was given a little money and he went into newspaper vending. He has developed until he now he has matatus . This is---"
}