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"id": 246319,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/246319/?format=api",
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"speaker_name": "Prof. Olweny",
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"speaker": {
"id": 122,
"legal_name": "Patrick Ayiecho Olweny",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me an opportunity to support this Motion. To me, it was more of a political speech than a serious Budget Speech. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is true that this country has realised some economic progress since the 2002 general elections. That is when the NARC Government came into power. Some projects that collapsed during the Moi regime have been revived. Today, Kenya Meat Commission (KMC), Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC) and a few irrigation schemes have been revived. But I am sceptical about the creation of employment. I know that someone can argue that employment has been created by the revival of some of those projects. This Government claims that it has created new jobs but this is not true. We have a persistent problem of unemployment in this country and there is no indication that 500,000 jobs have been created within the last one year or so. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, even though a number of projects have been revived, what has this Government done about Kisumu Cotton Mills (KICOMI)? What has this Government done about the cotton ginneries in this country? What has this Government done about Miwani Sugar Factory? This was a major project which former President Moi pulled down. This Government has left these projects to stall despite promises to the contrary by President Kibaki when he was campaigning for the presidency. As a result, we shall have nothing to tell our electorate next year when President Kibaki will be campaigning again. In fact, this will work against him. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is a lot of insecurity in this country, and especially in the rural areas. People are being attacked and maimed in the rural areas. In my constituency, the situation is terrible. I have complained to the PC, DC and the police, but we still have problems of insecurity, and yet so much money is being allocated to the Office of the President which is in charge of security in this country. I wish some of that money could be diverted to the Ministry of Agriculture. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you look at the most recent scandal that we had in this country concerning the two Armenian brothers, one wonders why the Government has to hire thugs, terrorists and drug traffickers to help it do its dirty jobs in this country. Since when was this Government allowed to use hooded persons to raid media houses? Which section of our law allows this kind of activity to take place? This issue touches on terrorism. If a security officer is carrying out an operation, he is supposed to identify himself properly instead of doing his job as a terrorist. That promotes terrorism and we should not allow this to happen. We must tell the Minister in charge, Mr. Michuki, that if he cannot do things the right way, we have younger people who can do a better job in this Ministry. The President can even appoint Mr. Mungatana to take charge of this 1494 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 21, 2006 Ministry. I think he is such a young and brilliant man and he can do a better job than the old guards whose time is gone. I know I cannot be made a Minister since I am so critical of the Government. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Parliament came up with the concept of Constituency Development Fund. This is one of the best things that ever happened in this country. I wish we had started it 30 years ago. Had we done so, today Kenya would be compared to other developed countries. The CDF has taken development to the people instead of keeping money in the line Ministries which then return the money to the Treasury at the end of the financial year, having not known what projects to spend the money on. Given the achievement of the CDF within the last two or three years, Members of Parliament were right to propose an amendment to the Act, so that instead of us getting 2.5 per cent, we get 7.5 per cent. What the Minister indicated to us in the Budget was a joke. We will still push for what we wanted because that is the money that goes to Kenyans. We do not want this money to be kept in the Treasury where it is not beneficial to wananchi . At the end of the day, that money which is kept in the Treasury and line Ministries is used for corruption. That is the money that is used for scandalous corrupt deals like Anglo Leasing and others in this country. I would like to remind the Minister that even though he gave us a small increment, we will still insist on our 7.5 per cent and it will be a hot issue in this House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Minister has shown that the Government is very unfriendly to the Ministry of Agriculture, and yet that is where the real development for this country is. Our economy is agriculture-based. Most of our industries and factories are directly linked to agriculture. Former President Moi inherited a thriving agricultural sector which the late President Kenyatta inherited from the colonial government. Former President Moi pulled the agriculture sector down. He left it crumbling and crippled. The NARC administration promised that they would do better, but today, very little has been done. There is a lot to be done. In this Budget, the Minister has allocated only Kshs5.2 billion for the Recurrent Budget and only Kshs3.6 billion for Development Budget for the Ministry of Agriculture. That is not adequate. Various projects are still limping. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister seems to be a good enemy of the sugar industry. President Kibaki promised us that he would revive Miwani Sugar Factory and that he would make sure that some of the heavily indebted sugar companies have their debts restructured. To date, nothing has been done. After all, the Sugar Development Levy Fund (SDLF) is kept in the Treasury. Millers who want that money cannot get it. In my constituency there is Muhoroni Multi- purpose Co-operative Society and the Sugar Belt Co-operative Union which applied for the SDLF money, but three years down the line, they have not got it because the Treasury has failed to release the money. The Minister is playing around with the SDLF. The Minister should tell the President that come next year, he will not get votes from the sugar-growing areas. That includes the whole of Luo Nyanza and Western Province. He is playing around with our lives. The SDLF was part of an effort to control sugar importation. What the Minister is proposing in the Budget is actually promoting importation of sugar which is affecting our sugar industry negatively. We will not accept it and we will come out fighting. All the MPs whose constituencies have been affected will come out and fight against efforts by the Minister to cripple the sugar industry. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) is one of the most ineffective institutions in this country. The KACC relies on rumours written in the gutter press. For example, there was a time they alleged that I had been bought a car by an Asian. The KACC has been following that issue for the last one year. There was also another rumour that I am still on the payroll of Maseno University. They are also still following that issue. There was also a time they alleged that I had a company called Bedrock that is doing business with Chemelil June 21, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1495 Sugar Factory. They are also still following up that issue, and yet they can just go to the Attorney- General's Chambers and find out who owns that company. They also alleged that Chemelil Sugar Factory gave me a farm, whereas I bought that farm with money that I got from Mr. Ojode's SACCO. This is one of the most useless institutions in this country. The money that they are earning should be withdrawn. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}