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"id": 246161,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/246161/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "The Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Printed Estimates that were laid on the Table show allocations of money to various Ministries. What Parliament expects is that this money will be put to good use. I agree that we need to strengthen our procurement process. We need a lot more accountable processes. We also need the implementation of projects to be speedy, of good quality and to meet the expectations of Kenyans. We appreciate that the envelope constantly placed before this House is smaller than the expectations of everybody. So, we end up having everyone crying that the money given is not enough. Indeed, it is not enough. We should all get down and pray very hard that this country gets to discover commercial quantities of oil and natural gas that will help improve our economy at a faster rate. I say this because I felt very proud two months ago when I learnt that contrary to all the things we hear about our sister State of Nigeria, they have utilised the oil boom to pay off their entire external debt. This is something very commendable. I believe that if all of us spoke with one voice, prayed and worked hard, God will kindly look at us and we will get oil so that we embark on our development. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, recently I heard a very strange statement. I hope the Chief Justice was misquoted. He was quoted as saying that the Judiciary must control their own envelop and utilise the fines they collect for running the Judiciary. If that was true, it is a very strange statement. If it ever comes to be requested I want the Minister for Finance to reject it. If this happens, we will get into a situation where the Chief Justice will be calling his magistrates and saying: \"We have not raised enough fines to run the Judiciary, fine wananchi .\" You can imagine what kind of justice system we can get into. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are talking June 22, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1583 of economic growth of 5.8 per cent. You have heard the cynics across the Floor making fun and poking holes into it. We must also understand, and this is elementary, that GDP growth for one year cannot automatically translate into poverty eradication. We need a sustained growth of 5.8 per cent or even more, for three to five years to have a real meaningful percolation down to the ordinary person. We remember the case of India shinning at the top because of GDP growth and the ordinary people remaining inaccessible to that growth. We hope that the management of the economy, and I believe this Government is committed to it, will be prudent and sustained so that its effects percolate down to the ordinary person. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been allocated a fairly decent envelop for this year. We, as a Ministry, have embarked on serious rationalisation of our missions to see that we only post to missions a cadre of officers that is strictly important and necessary for pursuing, among other critical things, our economic diplomacy. Within that envelop, we want to be able to open new missions. We also want to be able to make our missions more efficient. We want our representation at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), in major trading capitals and important stations like Brussels to be more responsive to the needs of Kenyans. Equally, we have taken into account the concerns constantly raised in this House about the plight Kenyans go through when they apply for visas, especially to popular destinations like the US and UK. We are talking to these missions. When the bad gets to the worst, in diplomacy we have the doctrine of reciprocity, that we can call into play. We hope we do not get there. We hope we will give best services to all Kenyans, including my colleagues across the Floor. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to mention something about our roads. The Ministry of Roads and Public Works remains one of the most critical Ministries in this Government and, indeed, in any government in a developing country. I want to urge the Minister to speed up and expand the new doctrine of concessioning roads that is coming into Kenya, so that we are able to have quality roads. Those who drive on them will not mind paying some toll and the economy will benefit from this. Whether we are talking of having a road to Moyale or Mandera districts, the forgotten parts of this country, we always wonder whether it is infrastructure that leads to development or it is development that leads to infrastructure. I want to urge the Minister to revise the Sessional Paper on roads that was brought in this House two years ago and emphasise on the concessioning of roads. We want the issue of the road from Mombasa to Malaba looking the way it is, to be history in this country. I noticed there are sections being worked on. I believe that many motorists that we talk to, will be ready to pay a toll as long as they are driving on a good road. Our bad roads are just being used to sustain the motor industries in Asia and Europe because we have to continue repairing our cars, fixing shock absorbers, suspension and so on. Roads are very critical. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to point out to the Ministry of Agriculture that if we really want to hasten our economic growth, we need to pay attention to quality agriculture. We need to move away from growth of crops that are not valuable in terms of money generation. We want to see in areas of high density production, more extension officers in the horticultural industry. We want to see cold rooms being built in areas for preservation of produce. We want to see feeder roads constructed and properly maintained, so that we are able to generate income for our people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation is very critical. We heard the emotions and sentiments of Mr. M.Y. Haji. We need to pay attention to the whole country and provide water to everybody. I know that Mr. Katuku is doing a good job. In fact, I want to congratulate him for going out of his way to visit my constituents recently and promising a fairly reasonable project to be done. On behalf of my people, I want to really thank him very much. I disagree with my colleague across the Floor, Mr. Muturi, that we should not be visiting 1584 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 22, 2006 Ministers to encourage them to do projects in our areas. We must do that because as long as we do not have a budget office in Parliament to look after our needs, we have to network and get things done. I also want to appeal to my colleagues, let us play less politics and more economics to make this country a better place to live in. We spend too much time and energy on unhelpful politics at the expense of development. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}