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"speaker_name": "Mr. Muturi",
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"legal_name": "Justin Bedan Njoka Muturi",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me an opportunity to say one or two things about the current Motion. Right from the outset, I wish to state that I support this Motion. I have had occasion, during my sessions in the Public Investments Committee (PIC), to interrogate the top management of Kenya Post Office Savings Bank. As hon. Oloo-Aringo, whom I thank for bringing this Motion, has pointed out in his write-up, it is quite clear that the Kenya Post Office Savings Bank has an extremely wide network. The fears that I have heard the Assistant Minister allude to are matters that can be addressed when the actual Bill is being formulated. This is not rocket science and we are not re-inventing the wheel. The mere fact that some greedy Kenyans, in the style of YK 92 and such outfits, may have dipped their fingers into the affairs of Post Bank Credit, which was an offshoot of the Kenya Post Office Savings Bank, should not be reason enough for us not to go through the recommendations in this Motion. This is because even in the enabling Act establishing the Kenya Post Office Savings Bank, Section 4(f) anticipates a situation in which the Kenya Post Office Savings Bank can actually establish a lending arm. Therefore, all that we need to do is to put in place institutional mechanisms that make it impossible for crooks to interfere with the savings of more than two million Kenyans who have saved over the years in the institution. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have been told that the informal sector contributes 60 per cent of employment in this country. Unfortunately, of that 60 per cent, 80 per cent is within the urban areas. We are talking about equity in the way that we distribute national development. If 80 per cent of all informal employment is to be found in urban areas, it means such a huge proportion of the population of this country is left without the ability or the possibility of ever accessing cheap credit. I want to agree with hon.Oloo-Aringo that surely, when you go to the villages and people want to borrow about Kshs5,000, and they are told to come with collaterals, we are making it impossible to ever think of development taking place in the rural areas. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have seen small institutions in the rural areas come up. I have in mind an institution called Bimas. It lends to the informal sector in my area. There are even no regulations. But, like hon.Oloo-Aringo pointed out, there are sufficient self control mechanisms that have been put in that quasi-finance institution to ensure that the rural borrowers repay what they borrow. There are no requirements about collaterals. It is just that the people are examined on the basis of where they live, what it is that they do on a daily basis, and those organisations just lend them money. We must also begin building trust among our people. People must be told that when you borrow, you must repay so that your neighbour is able to get something the next day. The big June 14, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1344 institutions like Kenya Commercial Bank and Barclays Bank have been pulling out of the rural areas. Therefore, one wonders, when are we ever going to develop skills in those rural areas? If people are not able to borrow to make even small kits in the villages, when are they ever going to know that they are capable of this or the other? The only hindrance is that they do not have access to credit. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I believe the spirit of this Motion is targeting a shift in strengthening rural economies and alleviating poverty and strengthening the purchasing power of the rural communities. I am surprised that we are told be cautious because the Government will introduce Micro-Finance Bill. But we have been hearing these stories. In fact, whenever the President opens Parliament, among the Bills that he has said that his Government will introduce is the Micro-Finance Bill. We are now in the fourth year. For how long are we going to be taken in this circus? If, indeed, the Government was sincere about this, we would have seen prioritisation of this Bill. But, as I said last week, since March, the only Bill that they thought was very urgent was the Sexual Offenses Bill, which was not a Government Bill. So, I want to commend hon.Oloo-Aringo for coming up with this Motion. As will be appreciated, provision of credit is an essential catalyst of rural development and, indeed, employment creation, as we have been told in various Government policy papers that have been brought up. I would want to emphasise that we should sit together. If, indeed, the Government is serious in enacting legislation that deals with micro-financing, we need to move in tandem with hon.Oloo-Aringo. Let the Government join hon.Oloo-Aringo in moving the amendment to the Kenya Post Office Savings Bank Act. In any event, what the Mover is telling all of us is that there already exists a vast infrastructure. We only need to in-build into that law mechanisms which will make it near impossible for the crooks of yesteryears to dip their fingers into the savings of the more than two million savers with the Kenya Post Office Savings Bank. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have been given good examples. Indeed, I do not think I need to dwell very much on them because they are all over in the villages. What collateral do women offer in their merry-go-rounds? They begin from savings and then start lending in an informal way. All that is being proposed here is: Let us try to rationalise and institutionalise it within the existing infrastructure because of the capacity that is there. If, indeed, they are told that the bank needs to train more risk managers, that can be done within the existing staff establishment of the Kenya Post Office Savings Bank. Therefore, even in as much as we are told to be cautious in the way that we bring about the law, it is important for us now to move with speed. We should not wait until the Government comes to our rescue, if it will ever come. Yesterday, I heard Prof. Anyang'-Nyong'o say that since he left the Government, things have been moving from bad to worse. The fact that the Government has not brought the so-called Micro-Finance Bill for debate in this House, is a good example of what Prof. Anyang'-Nyong'o talked about yesterday. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}