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"id": 245467,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/245467/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Ms. Mbarire",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Transport",
"speaker": {
"id": 78,
"legal_name": "Cecily Mutitu Mbarire",
"slug": "cecily-mbarire"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Motion. I wish to begin by first thanking the Minister for the Budget, which I think was well-balanced, except for a few issues. I think, it is a major step forward in terms of transparency in how money is allocated. I wish to say that I am extremely happy about the allocation of Kshs1 billion to the Youth Enterprise Fund. I think for a very long time, young people have been without anyone to look up to. The youth in Kenya have ended up being very frustrated and depressed, because there are few job opportunities for them. Therefore, their certificates do not mean much. The youth of this country are employed for very little money. Their dreams are quashed because nobody is looking after them. With the Kshs1 billion, we are beginning to see a Government that is becoming more sensitive to the plight of the youth. But this amount is not adequate. We need to allocate much more for this purpose. If anything, I would have wanted to see less money being allocated to the Department of Defence and, at least, Kshs5 billion allocated to the youth, because that is where the real problem is. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we had a National Youth Policy Paper pending before the Cabinet for three and a half years. Finally, at the end of last year it found its way to Parliament. But, up to now, we have not had an opportunity to discuss it. I now understand that it has been withdrawn so as to be re-looked at. How much more time do we need, as a Government, to come up with a national youth policy? It is this policy that gives guidelines on how the youth should be empowered. It also shows the commitment of the Government to youth-related issues. We need that policy because it would give guidelines as to how the Youth Enterprise Fund should be managed. Over and above that, we need to see clear and transparent criteria on how this Kshs1 billion is going to be allocated to the various districts, and who in the district is going to benefit from this Fund. We should also know what it is a young person, or a youth group, needs to do to be able to qualify for that Fund. If this money is not transparently managed, it could have a very bad effect on the Government. The youth are waiting with anxiety. They want to see how this money will be used, because they want to benefit from it. But before we even get to the point where we will be giving the money to the youth, and this is the issue of criteria and a proper policy on how this Fund is going to be managed, we need to empower the many young people out there in terms of giving them skills. We have youth polytechnics which have been allocated Kshs150 million to enable them to build the capacity of young people, so that they may begin their own income-generating activities. But we need to find out how soon these polytechnics are going to be re-equipped, as we were told. We also need to find out what kind of skills are going to be imparted by these polytechnics. We know very well that many of them have closed down. We also know that the tutors in these polytechnics are not properly remunerated and, therefore, they do not have the morale to impart the skills to the students. Therefore, we need to look at the issue of youth, or village polytechnics as they are popularly known, in a wholesome way. We need to ensure that we have enough teachers who are 1660 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 28, 2006 paid well. Over and above that, I think it is not enough to just impart skills to young people. We need to think of how they can get simple business management skills. As we give them money, we need to be sure that this money will be properly used and that, it will bring benefits to the young people. They need to have simple accounting skills. Therefore, the Ministry of Youth Affairs needs to look at the entire Fund in a very open manner and ensure that they look at all the issues that will enable it to be run well and get back returns for our investments as a Government. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, beyond looking at the skills, we also need to think about how we can market the products that the young people will come up with. How do we even ensure that there is no duplication of activities across the country on one particular aspect while others are being left out? How do we encourage innovativeness on the part of the young people? I think this needs to be looked at. We need a clear marketing strategy on how we will ensure that the goods that are produced by the youth groups get to the market centres. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, until we have a proper policy for these funds, I think we should not release the money. We must set clear guidelines and criteria. This must be done alongside the improvement of the current youth polytechnics. I also wish to add my voice to the issue of certificates for young people who leave secondary school. Many young people today cannot get jobs or go to tertiary institutions because they are lacking certificates due to non-completion of school fees. I think the Government needs to come up with a policy to have these young people access their certificates. The Government has propped up collapsed parastatals and State corporations. We also want the Government, in the same spirit, to come out and give money to clear these school fees arrears so that young people can get their certificates. Unless they get their certificates, even with this Youth Enterprise Fund, they may never benefit from it. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, allow me to go further and say that I think much as the Minister talked about reducing tax on diapers and other napkin products for babies, I think women were not properly taken care of in this Budget. When you talk about diapers, you are thinking about a working mother who can afford a diaper. I want to talk about the women in the villages who probably do not even know what it means to go to a shop and buy a diaper. They may not even know it exists. These women provide 80 per cent of agricultural products. But at the end of the day, they cannot claim the money as their own. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is high time the Government looked at ways of encouraging women farmers by ensuring that money earned from their hard labour returns back to them. In particular, I would like to talk on behalf of women who are in dairy farming. The Government should provide credit facilities to women to buy dairy cattle. They will repay those loans by selling the milk products. There are many women out there who would like to own cattle, a cash crop or to have money in their pockets at the end of the month. They do not want to labour and at the end of the month, the money only goes to their husbands. So, the Government should start looking at women more clearly and as a critical constituency with which to work, if they truly want to reduce poverty levels. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also need to look at farming more seriously. I think most hon. Members have spoken about this issue before me, and they have said that the Ministry of Water and Irrigation needs to come out with a clear policy on how they will ensure that there is water harvesting during the rainy season; and also ensure that this water is used for irrigation in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}