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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me a chance to contribute to this Motion. Let me state from the outset that I support the Motion. It is my view that, as representatives of the people of Kenya, and as a body that allows the Minister to levy taxation, it is only fair that we be given an opportunity to decide on how the resources of this country are allocated. Therefore, I am hoping that this is the last time the Minister for Finance will come here and surprise us with his proposals. We expect hon. Members to have an input in the next Budget. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, having said that, let me join my colleagues who said that it was a fairly progressive and imaginative Budget. But that is with an exception of two areas. The issue of the Sugar Development Levy is contentious. We are aware of other levies that are paid, but they are never paid by consumer organisations. For example, we have the Petroleum Development Levy and Catering Levy that are paid by the consumers. I do not see why the Minister wants sugar-cane growers to pay those taxes. I have an issue to raise with regard to the increase of fuel prices. But I will talk about that later. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me comment on our own performance as a House. We all know that the Government is subjected to scrutiny. I hope hon. Members know that Parliament is part of the Government. So, just as we expect the Executive to account for its omissions or commissions, Parliament also must submit itself for scrutiny by other bodies. I am aware that the Press has incited wananchi against us. However, there are times we, ourselves, have played into the hands of the media. We engage ourselves so much with what I would call \"very unproductive politics\", while ignoring our core mandate. It is my sincere prayer--- I am appealing to my colleagues: Let us concentrate on providing the necessary legal framework to enable the private sector to grow and invest, so that our country can move forward. Members of Parliament should stop grumbling because they have the capacity and means to bring about changes. The other day, all of us were grumbling about Uchumi Supermarkets. This House has a capacity to formulate laws that can save a company like Uchumi Supermarkets, which is in trouble. It is within our mandate to do that. Let us concentrate on policies that would make a difference in the lives of our people. 1754 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 29, 2006 Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for example, Dr. Ojiambo has brought a Bill that will bring sanity in the area of procurement. A lot of money is spent by the Government on procurement. If that Bill is passed by this House, there will be some professionalism. Hopefully, if we can save even 5 per cent of what the Government spends on procuring goods and services, that money will go a long way in helping our people. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to the Budget itself, I appreciate that we are going to get some more money than we got last year. I also appreciate the fact that, the Minister has set aside some money to help the womenfolk. Our youth are also going to be facilitated to engage in activities that can improve their lives. However, I was looking for things in this Budget that affect my people in Khwisero Constituency. I represent people who are largely farmers. They suffer from hunger because they cannot access inputs to produce enough to feed their families. The Government has spent a lot of money in research. I can say that our research basket is literally full, and yet our granaries remain empty. Our people are still going hungry. I expected more money to be pumped into agriculture, so that we can expand extension services. We want officers who can address the production challenges that our people face. In Khwisero Constituency, farmers have problems with soil fertility. Weeds like striga and pests like osama are causing untold suffering. We have problems in land preparation. All in all, we have serious problems. We need to teach our people how to engage in productive farming. They need to know conservation measures, so that our soil is not eroded and taken to Egypt. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the main challenge is access of inputs by the poor people in this country. We know that during the last drought, the Government spent over Kshs8 billion! That money was not budgeted for. They were able to put that money together and feed only two million people. I am convinced that the Government, in partnership with the private sector, international community and local charities, can set up an emergency fund of Kshs10 billion. If you gave me and my farmers in Khwisero Kshs10 billion, we can produce 27 million bags of maize and four million bags of beans. That is enough to feed 18 million Kenyans. Why do you spend Kshs10 billion to feed two million Kenyans? With Kshs10 billion, we can feed 55 per cent of Kenyans who, today, cannot afford one mean a day. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let us not entrench the culture of begging. Let us endeavour to restore our national dignity by enabling our people to access two meals per day. When the Minister increased the price of fuel by Kshs3 per litre, he told us that he intended to raise Ksh5 billion. Even without him having to raise it, we know that it was bound to go up due to what is happening in the oil world market. It was going to go up whether he increased it or not. However, fuel is a very important factor in production. When you increase the price of fuel, consumer prices and the cost of transportation go. The Minister could only have done that if he did not have other options. However, he had many other options to raise the Kshs5 billion that he was looking for. We have heard about Nakumatt Supermarket and how much money it owes the Exchequer. We know at what rate the likes of Nakumatt have expanded and yet the Minister is so naive to believe that with this expansion, they cannot pay tax. There are so many \"Nakumatts\" in this country. There was a period when the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) was collecting a lot of revenue, but all of a sudden, something went wrong. I suspect that the ugly head of corruption has started to crop up. I know of a company that owes the KRA Kshs2 billion. Somehow, this company has arranged with some KRA officers to frustrate the collection of tax. This is a trend that we cannot June 29, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1755 allow. There are so many companies that are not paying tax. I would urge the Minister to tighten the strings to ensure that---"
}