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"speaker_name": "Mr. Miriti",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Trade and Industry",
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"legal_name": "Petkay Shem Nkiria Miriti",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Motion. First of all, I would like to congratulate the Mover of this Motion, Dr. Ojiambo. She has introduced other Motions in this House which have really had a lot of support from both the Front and Back benches. This shows that she is thinking a lot about our country, and that is very good of her. We commend her for that. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we know that there is a lot of poverty in Kenya. We have very many poor women, youth and disabled persons. If you go round the country, you will see a lot of poor people. Nevertheless, we have seen people really putting a lot of effort and struggling to have some economic gain. Very many women have formed and joined self-help groups and Community Based Organizations (CBOs). The purpose of such groupings is to empower themselves economically. We have also seen a lot of youth groups in form of Jua Kali organizations and also trying very much to struggle in order to increase their daily earnings. We know that the Government has also done a lot trying to empower these groups. There is already some money, about Kshs1 billion, which has been set aside for the youth. The women are going to be empowered in the form of employment and also financially. We know that the Government has also given out some money in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). However, in the absence of such a Bill to streamline what is happening, it becomes really difficult to operate. That is why I feel this Motion is timely. It will really help in the implementation of various programmes. Although we have such groups, we know that many Kenyans do not know how to conduct business. So, we need civil education in entrepreneurial skills. That is why I support the Motion. We also need these people to be empowered through capital. Although many people are conducting business, most of them do not have collateral. As we all know, banks in Kenya cannot lend any amount of money without security in form of title deeds and any other collateral. We, therefore, need some special funds which will be available to these very hardworking Kenyans who would 3128 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 25, 2006 like to venture into business. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have been talking about industrialization in Kenya. However, we all know that without the participation of the rural folk, we cannot talk of an industrialized country. We need to involve every Kenyan, from east, west, north and south, in this industrialization programme. It can only work if every Kenyan who is willing to work is empowered. That is why this Community Social Enterprise Bill will include areas where such people will be supported. I know that in Nyanza Province, very many people would like to fish, but they do not have canoes, nets and other equipment. If they are given these facilities, they will do the fishing. Instead of having foreigners exploiting our resources when we are just staring and standing by, we should encourage local people to do so. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this role of empowering people has sometimes been taken over by some Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). These NGOs are regional. Sometimes, they really do not do what they claim to be doing. When we go and try to assess the impact of their input, we find that it is almost nil. So, we need the Government, through the church involvement, to come in very quickly and support all Kenyans who would like to do business. In many urban centres in Kenya, there are very many shops with very few goods being sold in them. This is because the proprietors do not have enough capital. If we had capital such people who have already proved that they are willing to do business, would go very far. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as the Mover has already said, countries run on taxes which are contributed by people. If we have more people paying taxes, the country will be very rich, because we shall have money to support our programmes; be they in the transport, roads, energy and such like sectors. We can only enrich ourselves if we empower our people to be rich. Once they are rich, we shall have more people paying taxes and be able to support ourselves. There are outsiders, especially in the local embassies, who claim that the donor money that we receive is from taxpayers from their countries. If we widen our tax base, we shall also be able to donate money to other countries which are poor. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in my closing remarks, I would like to say that we see people agonizing out there. We see the plight of many Kenyans who are willing to work, but there is no support. They look like people who are crying in the wilderness, but there is nobody to save them. I hope that once this Bill is drawn, it will include provisions for such people. I mean the disadvantaged, the disabled, those in the Jua Kali sector, the hawkers, the youth and the children. Once that is done, it will touch on the lives of all Kenyans. We shall succeed in empowering our people and uplifting their living standards. I know there are people who go for days without a meal, just because they have no support. Although the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) is supposed to address poverty, it is mainly being used to develop infrastructure which has been very bad. It cannot cater for what is proposed in this Bill. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, let me congratulate the Government and the President of the Republic of Kenya for the work that has been done so far. A lot of work has been done to address poverty, regardless of what people might say. If you want to know what has been done, let us go to the grassroots. Let us not listen to what people are saying. Let us go to the ground and see what has been done and people---"
}