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"id": 245246,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/245246/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Muchiri",
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"speaker": {
"id": 225,
"legal_name": "Muchiri Geoffrey Gachara",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance. The theme of this year's Budget, Framework for the Future: Laying the Building Blocks, was fairly appropriate. However, I also do realise that, as a builder, when you are building, you need to have your mixtures right. You also need to have the right fundi . I think the Minister for Finance tried as much as he could to balance the Budget. Targeting a revenue of Kshs375 billion was quite optimistic of him. I believe that, that target is achievable. There is no doubt that the economy of this country has grown. Even the doubting Thomases can now appreciate that our country's economy has grown since this Government took over power. The country's economic growth is exemplified by registering a growth rate of five per cent in 2003, 5.3 per cent in 2004 and the projected economic growth rate is 5.7 per cent by the end of 2006. This is an important thing in this country. We recall that in 2001 our revenue target was Kshs200 billion. The other economic parameters that we are proud of include what the Minister talked about concerning the Treasury Bill rates. He announced that the Treasury Bills are now earning an interest ranging in the region of 7 per cent to 8 per cent. I must say that, that is very good for this economy. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am concerned that the gap between the rich and the poor is still not acceptable. The standard of living of our people appears still not to have improved. For the economy to be said to have improved, people must have some money with them. The purchasing power of our people is still very low. So, I would like to urge the Government to try and close this gap. Once we do that, we shall be able to have an economy which is equitable and which we can all June 29, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1741 be proud of. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to add my voice in congratulating the Minister for the way he has treated the youth of this country. There is a lot of money that is earmarked for youth activities. Without necessarily repeating what has been said in the Budget Speech, we have to be very careful about what we really want to do with the Kshs100 million allocated to the Youth Council. If it is just to establish the Youth Council, then I doubt how it will be able to reach every youth in this country. However, it is encouraging to hear that the Minister has set aside Kshs1 billion for the Youth Enterprise Fund. I hope that this particular Fund will not be like what was the Rural Enterprise Fund in the yester years. People were given money and they never paid it back. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Kshs400 million has been provided to cater for the tribal clashes victims. These people are all over; in fact, in my constituency, a number of them were dumped at the Ndaragua Centre from Enosopukia. We continue to see these people languish in poverty because they have no place to cultivate or shelter. I hope that this money will be used to cater for victims of tribal clashes, not only in Rift Valley Province, but also other parts of the country. There is the question of the turnover tax of 3 per cent which the Minister alluded to. I believe that will make the tax base broader. However, it is still not clear to me how that is going to be administered because any tax system must be able to reduce administration cost and people must be able to pay freely without a lot of coercion. The 3 per cent which is going to be paid by businesses, I believe, is going to net a good income. That is a welcome move. Noting that the VAT threshold is up to Kshs5 million, that actually reduces the complications that existed when we were talking about taxes. I know that a lot of money that this country is going to receive will be spent on security. However, I am afraid that in my constituency, security is still a problem. Last week, a lady was killed in Magutu Village and a man was shot at a place called Kianugu. My battle is between security and the environment. I am sorry to say that in my constituency, every time you have to move from one location to another, you have to pass through a forest. I want the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources to take this matter seriously because it is affecting my constituents. I know that a lot of money that will be collected through taxes is going to be allocated to tourism and wildlife sectors. My constituents are now troubled to the limit because of elephants. I would like to ask the Minister for Tourism and Wildlife to relocate all the elephants in Rumuruti Forest, Garilaro Forest and Ndaragua Forest to the Aberdares and have them paddocked there. My neighbour, hon. G.G. Kariuki can bear me witness. We cannot do any economic gainful activities in some parts of my constituencies because of elephants. Recently, they just came close to my house. So, I would like the Government to look at this matter more seriously. I hope that the Government is going to do something because we support it as much as we can. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is a good thing that the Minister increased the amount of money allocated to the CDF from Kshs7 billion to Kshs10 billion. However, I hope that this money will not be spent on bursaries because that is an area which the Ministry of Education is supposed to cater for. The Ministry of Finance should be able to ascertain whether the amount of money allocated for bursaries is intact in the Ministry of Education. If that is done, then we shall be able to use the bursary component in the CDF to assist students in our tertiary colleges and the universities. I appreciate the fact that the Minister has reduced the statutory allocation to Kenya Roads Board (KRB) from 3 per cent to 2 per cent. However, I would like to draw the Minister's attention to the fact that the largest portion out of the money that we receive in the form of District Roads Fund (DRF), is used to fund the Ministry of Roads and Public Works. The District Roads 1742 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 29, 2006 Engineers use between 7 per cent to 10 per cent of that money to actually run their offices. So, the money we receive is less to that extent. I hope that the Minister for Roads and Public Works will look into this matter because that is a lot of money. This person called the District Roads Engineer is given money by the Chief Roads Engineer and the District Roads Committee and yet when the same person is called up to supervise road projects in our constituencies, he also demands funding from us to cover administrative costs. So, at the end of the day, the District Roads Engineer (DRE) may end up having a lot of money that, perhaps, he may not need for his administration. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are going to spend Kshs99 billion in the education sector. Out of this amount, Kshs71 billion will be used to pay the teachers' salaries. I think the greatest problem in this country is secondary school education. I would like to appeal to the Government that in future it should look at what it would take to provide free secondary school education. The parents who have children in secondary schools are having a lot of problems in paying school fees. So, if we made secondary school education free, that would be a step in the right direction. I urge the Government to find ways of subsidising secondary school education, or even make it free. Bursaries may not be able to solve the problem. Many students do not complete secondary school education because of fees problems. Mr. Speaker, Sir, while I continue to support the Budget, I think Kshs30 billion is too little- --"
}