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"id": 241384,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/241384/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kagwima",
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"speaker": {
"id": 286,
"legal_name": "Francis Nyamu Kagwima",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to join my colleagues in supporting this Motion. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Ministry is in charge of regulating trade and ensuring that Kenya achieves the target of being an industrialised country by the year 2020. To be able to do that, 2330 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 25, 2006 we need to put in place and ensure that we review our plans on a regular basis. That will help us to find out whether we are on course or not. The allocation we are talking about here is too little. I am not sure whether we are attaching the required importance to this Ministry. From this Ministry's budget, we are talking about Kshs143 million for traders in the rural areas. If we already have 75 districts in the country; and probably more others will be created, what will Kshs100 million do to benefit all these districts? As you all know, our banks are not bothered about supporting the small traders, let alone making money available for them. The traders who start biashara require to be educated and guided so that they can know where to start from. Perhaps, the direction that we are taking now is not the right one. People will continue selling their livestock or open more shops, but after only six months all these investments will go down. I know that some other people might make the mistake of presenting their title deeds to banks only for their businesses to collapse after six months. It simply means that they will have to lose their shambas. The Ministry, therefore, requires to play that role of regulating, guiding and educating our small traders. We need to discuss with our banks so that as people borrow money, they are given a breathing space in the name of grace period. Really, if you start a business today, you will not be able to make instant profit. One would be very lucky to make profit in the first and second months of doing business. It will just be good coincidence. Along the way, one person must incur losses. The Ministry needs to start renegotiating with the financiers and other banking institutions so that business people who take loans are given a grace period. We could even charge for the training of the business people once we put in place a training period, whatever name you give it, for them. We should, therefore, not allow people to borrow money and expect them to repay it with interest at the end of the same month. They cannot make profit and carry on with business that way. So, the Ministry has a major role to play in terms of regulating, guiding and educating people. The Ministry of Trade and Industry needs to liaise with other Ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture, so that farm produce such as greengrams and bananas are semi-processed and value added to them. We should add value to our produce before we take it to the consumers. If we do that, we shall be making more money for the farmers. But the Ministry is just there alone. It cannot make any impact if it does not liaise with other Ministries. The Ministry requires to work very closely with the Ministry of Energy. If the Ministry requires to set up an industry, the Minister will consult his colleague at the Ministry of Energy and tell him: \"We require electricity in these areas so that we can put up industries for residents and investors!\" Fortunately, this country has enormous resources. Even where you come from, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, some areas many not have quarry stones. But you have the soil that can be compacted into beautiful bricks that have the same strength as quarry stones. If the Ministry assisted the people living in those areas, they could make bricks and create employment. The sale of bricks would fetch money for the owners of the quarries. People will also save on transport. There is soil that is lying en masse in those areas. If we had electricity in those areas, we could convert the soil and make building blocks and bricks. Therefore, the Ministry should set up a department to liaise with other Ministries. That way, the regulatory and promotion law will be properly achieved. I am sure we could achieve our target of industrialisation by 2020, only if we stayed committed to the same. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this country has a lot of resource in terms of manpower. The Ministry requires qualified personnel in the area of industries. We can use the same personnel to ensure that the development, supervision and improvement of existing industries is properly done. Even if you want to train the current ones, let us train them to the level that they will be useful in terms of the development of industries. People in the technical fields may not think that the Ministry of Trade and Industry is important. But we can come up with terms that could attract them. The reason why our goods are not competitive in other markets is because we are using people who are not properly trained. We are using people who are living in the old era, without July 25, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2331 applying modern technology. We need to upgrade ourselves, so that we can produce competitively. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, going back to what Mr. Muturi said, the Ministry needs to liaise with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It should not only rely on trained attache's, but even the ambassadors and high commissioners. The Ministry requires people with reasonable knowledge about trade and economics. We have moved from the era of the cold wars, where countries like Russia and America were fighting to impress the world. We are now in the era of trade. We need our ambassadors and high commissioners to have knowledge of trade and economics, so that they can show our people areas where they can benefit. They should also market our goods in their respective countries. They should not just sit in those countries and spend the money that we could use here. We need qualified people, even if it means recruiting them from the private sector. We need the Ministry to influence the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so that the ambassadors and high commissioners are people with reasonable knowledge about trade. That way, they can market this country. I am sure we can earn quite substantially if our representatives out there sold our country to the foreigners. We have enormous resources. Finally, I urge the Minister to request for more money next year---"
}