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"id": 241383,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Lesrima",
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"speaker": {
"id": 178,
"legal_name": "Simon Saimanga Lesirma",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to make a contribution by congratulating the Minister for his good leadership in multi-lateral and regional trade negotiations since he took over the Ministry. I would like to say that at the constituency level, the good activities of this Ministry and parastatals at the grassroots level are sometimes not really heard of. It is important that the Ministry spends some resources as we devolve funds. There are so many funds being devolved, the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) being one of them, to see how we can take advantage of the activities of this Ministry to industrialise and develop trade and business at the grassroots level. I am not blaming the Ministry when I talk like this. I am only saying that we need more public relations. We need to hear more of the good things that they do. However, we understand that their budget is very small. It is very sad to note that nearly 50 per cent of their budget is donor-funded, yet we want to industrialise. Our target was 2020, but I think we have now changed it to 2030. I do not know why we have moved forward that deadline. I would want to see Kenya becoming an industrial country. So, this Ministry deserves a bigger Budget. We should harness our own resources to realise our budgetary objectives. This is a challenge for the newly formed Fiscal Analysis and Appropriation Committee of this House, to which I am a member. The other issue is that this Ministry has a role in building capacities of our traders. It has training institutions under it. But when you look at the way it has structured its budget, you will see that these institutions are under-funded. The Kenya Industrial Training Institute got only 2 per cent of its budget for training. I think this institute was part of the core business of the Ministry. The Kenya Institute of Business Training got 20 per cent. It has tried. We need to put more resources July 25, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2329 into capacity building activities. We used to have joint loan schemes in my constituency. I understand that now this facility has been regionalised. So, if a Samburu wants a trader officer, he should go to Nanyuki District. This will be a very expensive trip, because he or she will have to be accompanied by an interpreter due to language barrier. We want joint loan schemes to be supported and sustained by the Ministry. This is because sometimes in the far-flung northern districts the only available financial facility is provided by the Government and the Kenya Commercial Bank. The Minister for Finance should also introduce here the Micro-finance Bill since other financial institutions will not operate in these rural areas in the near future. We used to have the Kenya Industrial Estates under this Ministry. The Kenya Industrial Estates can assist a lot in business incubation as it did in the 1970s. Some of the successful companies, like Kuguru Foods and Haco Industries, came out of the Kenya Industrial Estates. I hope that the Ministry will re-establish the Kenya Industrial Estates at the constituency level and link it to youth polytechnics. I understand that there is some US$22 million, but I do not know whether it is meant for minor industrial estates. But this initiative is not in my constituency. So, I do not know where this money from the American Government is going. If it is meant for business incubation, then we want it to be used in our livestock-based industries. The Kenya Industrial Research Development Institute is doing a good job. I understand that it can convert cow hides and goat skins into clothes, but we have not heard very much about its activities in Samburu District. It should support small Kenya Industrial Estates there. The reason why I am emphasising that the Ministry should get interested in establishing facilities at the constituency level is because in that way, we can support infrastructure development such as electricity supply and telephones and internet provision. If this is not done, the Ministry of Energy will wait for another 10 years before it gets in the use wind power to drive industries. So, this Ministry should be interested in supporting development activities at the constituency level. A lot has been said about the Numerical Machining project. I know that the technology is now out of date, but I think it is a very important facility for Kenya to demonstrate that we can manufacture aircraft spare parts. This project requires very little money, not more than Kshs90 million, to upgrade its technology. On trade attaches, the Minister should appoint officers who are interested in business. They should have some experience in business. It is not enough to have a doctorate degree in trade; one must have a hands-on experience. There are opportunities to do business in Africa. I visited Congo Brazaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These countries import meat from Chad and milk from France. Why can we not get meat from Samburu and export it there? Maybe it is because Dr. Kituyi does not know how to sell meat. We want to know areas where we can sell our beef, for example, in Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. The trade attaches in those countries should be people who are interested in doing cattle business. With regard to the question of accessing markets, I want to congratulate the Minister for the good job that he has done. Those of us who come from the pastoralist areas would like to get opportunities to sell, say, jewellery from the Maasai, Turkana, Pokot and Rendille. These jewellery is very popular in the Western world, but you will find that it is sold by people who do not come from pastoralist areas. The pastoralists have not been able to access that market. So, we would like to see the Ministry organise public forums in order to expose us to the opportunities out there. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those remarks, I beg to support."
}