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"speaker_name": "Mr. Salat",
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"legal_name": "Nick Kiptoo Korir Salat",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for living up to your promise yesterday that those of us who stuck up to the adjournment time will be accorded a chance to contribute today. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to add my voice to this particular Vote, which every hon. Member agrees is very important. This Vote is important in the sense that its performance will add a lot of value to the lives of Kenyans. I have noticed that every speaker who has been given a chance to speak cannot fail to thank the Minister. He has been one of the key Ministers who are constantly updating the House on the performance of their Ministries. When you ask a Question, you are sure to get a proper answer from him. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the performance of the Minister in terms of travelling outside the country is relevant to the Ministry. A few years ago when he represented the country in the World Trade Organization (WTO), he put Kenya on the world map and we are recognized because of his performance. In terms of regional trade,the Minister has continued to represent the country well. We know that because every time he returns back to the country, he makes an effort to bring a report to the House. So, we commend the Minister. He should not look back but continue providing the necessary service to this Ministry. I have said that this Ministry is key in evaluating the performance of this Government. We, therefore, encourage the Minister because if the overall 2402 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 26, 2006 performance is positive, it will help to improve the lives of ordinary Kenyans. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the Minister for one other thing which I have not heard from any other Minister; the scandal that we had about the so-called \"investors\"; the Artur brothers. He is the only Minister who came here and said that their presence in Kenya has hurt the country. I must thank him for that because he came clean. He never hid behind the formation of a Commission of Inquiry, but said that the impact of the presence of the Artur brothers in this country really hurt the country, especially his Ministry, which requires investor confidence for it to perform and for investors to come to this country. We need to have confidence. That confidence was breached by the presence of those two individuals because investments go hand in hand with security. So, when they downgraded the security of this country, the Minister came clean and said that it was an embarrassment to this country both internally and externally. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was looking at the Vote and I would like the Minister to travel outside the country to represent us. But when I tallied what they call \"Foreign Travel and Subsistence and other Transportation Costs\" and \"Domestic Travel, Subsistence and other Transportation Costs\", the total cost of travel, both domestic and foreign travel, is over Kshs100 million in this particular Ministry. I tallied the cost from all the departments which are under his Ministry and altogether, they came to over Kshs100 million. To me, if it can be justified that, that amount is going to bring value to Kenya, then I do not object it. But as we go into the Committee Stage, we would want the Minister to make us believe that there is value in this amount which has been allocated for domestic and foreign travel. I think that is quite a high figure to put for that particular item. So, we request the Minister to explain. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue which I want the Minister to address is about the Small Scale and Industrial Services. We have small traders like Jua Kali traders in this country and we have subjected them to that particular name. This is 2006, and we are heading towards 2007, yet we still refer to them as Jua Kali artisans. We expect them to be where they are, where nobody goes and to only provide services for the poor. We need to modernize the Jua Kali sector so that they can also contribute to the economy. So, we expect the Minister to modernize the sector so that we do not just know that they are Jua Kali artisans and they belong somewhere where they are not supposed to be. We need that issue to be addressed by the Minister. Another issue I would like the Minister to address is about corruption. As we talked about the few cases of corruption in this particular Ministry because, I think, the Minister has been very transparent and forthright, he just needs to reign in on them. I congratulate him because there are only few scandals which hit the Ministry, like the one of the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), which almost ruined the good reputation of the Minister who has been doing so much work. But the report we have now is that the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) is reigning in on that particular scandal. We expect that those responsible will be brought to book. Sometimes we hear that suspicious deaths have occurred in this Ministry and we hope that they have nothing to do with this particular scandal in this Ministry. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, having heard Prof. Anyang'-Nyong'o speak, I would also like to concur with him that we also need to look inwards in terms of developing the Kenyan economy. The first step is to look at developing what is genuinely Kenyan. Where is it that we need to inject our resources? We need to inject our resources to areas that will benefit the common citizens. When I look at the departments within this Ministry, you find that we have the Kenyan Industrial Training Institute, Small Scale and Industrial Services, the KEBS, Training Monitoring, Industrial Property Tribunal and Regional Co-operation. When you come to ask the common mwananchi if they are aware of their existence and the benefits of those particular departments within the Ministry, you will find that most Kenyans are not aware. So, I would like the Minister to make sure that information and the relevance of those departments within the Ministry reaches the common July 26, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2403"
}