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"id": 246898,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/246898/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Kibunguchy",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Health",
"speaker": {
"id": 294,
"legal_name": "Enoch Wamalwa Kibunguchy",
"slug": "enoch-kibunguchy"
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"content": " Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I also rise to support this Motion. First of all, I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate Mr. Oloo-Aringo for having come up with a Motion that will, in my view, fight poverty in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was a bit disappointed by excuses given by the Minister for Finance. I would like to say that as a country our biggest problems ahead of us at the moment are poverty and unemployment. If we can tackle the two problems, we will be on the right track. I am not an economist, but when we talk about improved economic growth rate - right now at 5.8 per cent - but, June 14, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1345 at the same time, the level of poverty and the number of people who are living in absolute poverty is increasing, I cannot comprehend what is going on. There is a paradox. To me, a Motion like this, because of the widespread infrastructure of the Post Office Savings banks in the country, provides one way that we can truly fight the monster called poverty in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to support this Motion for very many other reasons. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, some of the issues we have heard Mr. Oloo-Aringo raise about organised groups, such as women and youth groups are extremely pertinent in the rural areas. In an area like Lugari, the youth stay together. Most of them are engaged in two basic activities: One, the boda boda transport which is now a fully-fledged industry. Secondly, they form groups which make bricks for sale or undertake horticultural activities. Like everywhere else in the country, our women groups are engaged in merry-go-round activities. All these groups are already organised. In their own unique ways, they are already working, although they are doing so on a very low scale. If the Government can find a way of encouraging and supporting these groups to grow, it would be one way of fighting poverty and addressing the issue of unemployment. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, a lot has been said about the Gramin Bank Model. Mr. Oloo-Aringo articulated this concept very well. I would not want to spoil it. While sitting here, a colleague asked me: \"How do you give credit without any collateral?\" The little I know about the Gramin Bank Model is that, it lends mainly to groups and it is the members of those groups who co-guarantee each other. That is a wonderful way of getting away from reliance on collateral for one to access credit. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for years, we have been fed on some of the programmes that have been brought to this country by the World Bank, the IMF and the so-called \"development partners\". In my view, most of those programmes have not addressed the twin problem of poverty and unemployment. No wonder, as Parliament, when we came up with the very noble idea of the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF), some of the people who rubbished it were from the World Bank. I was extremely disappointed that, of all the people, the World Bank, which keeps on talking about eradication of poverty, could rubbish a noble idea like the CDF, which has changed the face of this country. Therefore, having read the mind of the Minister for Finance, I am sure that the Government and the World Bank will oppose the Bill being sought through this Motion. However, I would like to say that time has come for us to come up with revolutionary reforms. To me, this is one of the reforms that can enable us to fight the twin problem of poverty and unemployment that has bedeviled this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, time and again, we have wondered how we can decongest our towns and cities. We can only decongest our towns and cities if we can make it possible for people to make a decent living in the rural areas. Those are some of the reasons for which one would support the Bill being sought through this Motion. I have worked and interacted very closely with people in the rural areas and, having heard some of the success stories from other parts of the country, I have no doubt in my mind that the poor people constitute a group of people who would be the best beneficiaries of this initiative. They will be able to repay whatever credit they will have got and move on with their lives. I would like us to move further, as Government, to be able to attract rural investment. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am told that if you go to countries like India, you will find that even in people's homes, they have small \"factories\", where they produce items such as tooth-picks, which are exported or sold in the country. I would like us to see such a thing being done in this country, especially in the rural areas. June 14, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1346 As we think about rural investment, I would like to urge the Government to give incentives for investors to invest in the rural areas. If we are really serious in solving the twin problem of poverty and unemployment, one of the incentives that we have talked about time and again is to give people who are willing to invest in the rural areas a tax holiday. We should create a conducive environment for them to set up their businesses and maybe operate for five to 10 years before they start paying taxes. In the process, they will create employment and move people from towns to the rural areas. Finally, as we support this Motion and look at the problems of this country, I get extremely dismayed by the many people who have declared their interests in being future Presidents of this country. I get dismayed because they are not telling Kenyans what they will do for them if we elected them. I do not see any of them around. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}