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{
"id": 244514,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/244514/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Ahenda",
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"speaker": {
"id": 256,
"legal_name": "Paddy Ahenda",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I would also like to contribute on this Motion. The socio-economic situation in the country at the moment has made many multi-nationals to fold. It is, therefore, very timely that we have a bank that is prepared to expand in the rural areas. This is the bank that should be fully supported, not only by hon. Members, but by the Government at large. The multi-national banks have been raking billions of shillings in profit but they hardly plough it back to the indigenous people. This Motion should be enhanced to give the Kenya Post Office Savings Bank (KPOSB) the mandate to extend micro-financing to the rural areas where our people can easily access cheap and affordable credit to help them expand their micro-enterprises in the rural areas. The KPOSB is the bank with the largest network in Kenya and yet through legislation, it has been denied access to give due services to wananchi in the rural areas. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Motion would, definitely, provide the required legislation to help the people in the rural areas to fully benefit from the banking services that have been denied to the KPOSB. In essence, the KPOSB has a large number of deposits that it cannot otherwise give out in form of loans and credit facilities to its depositors just because of cumbersome legislation that denies them the right to engage in profitable business in the rural areas. If this legislation is put into full use, our people in the rural areas and, indeed, in the urban areas, will also have easy access and transfer of funds that had also been another source of money for some international banks and multi-national companies that have been transferring money from overseas to Kenya. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the past, the KPOSB was the only means of transferring funds from one part of the country to another. However, if it is fully transformed into a bank, it will rake in a lot of profit from its members in the rural areas. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is talk that the commercial banks have really milked their depositors. If the KPOSB is given the mandate to operate in the same system, the wananchi will benefit a great deal by ploughing back these profits instead of being taken out of the country by the multi-nationals. During the time that the KPOSB has been in operation, the billions of deposits lying there have been used by the central Government without ploughing it back to its depositors. At the moment, if you visit the headquarters of the KPOSB and ask for their balance sheet, you will be shocked by the large amount of deposits that are lying there. They are holding huge amounts of money that is never ploughed back because of bad legislation that this bank has been operating under. If this is allowed, the Bank would definitely, plough back this money and our people would, therefore, get another source of income. Another point that I would like to make known about the KPOSB is that the structure and the management has been wanting. If the KPOSB operates like any commercial bank, the structure and the management would, henceforth, encompass professionals of diverse financial backgrounds that would inject new impetus into the management and running of any viable and profitable commercial bank. This would give the KPOSB the mandate to operate far and wide, and give all its staff the opportunity to run as a commercial enterprise and not as an in-house private business. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the operation of the KPOSB and its branch network has been July 5, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1809 misconstrued to mean that it is part and parcel of the defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC). The KPTC only assisted the KPOSB with its facilities. However, this legislation would make it an independent entity and let it operate as any other commercial bank that would operate in the rural areas. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}