Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 247371,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/247371/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 229,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Marende",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 289,
        "legal_name": "Kenneth Otiato Marende",
        "slug": "kenneth-marende"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I want to thank the Minister for that Ministerial Statement. However, it falls short of our expectations. First, under Section 22 of the Constitution, the Minister is under duty to exercise control and direction over activities that fall under his portfolio. From what he has said in the Ministerial Statement, it is clear that he has lost control of the activities of Uchumi Supermarkets Company Limited. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the former chairman of the board of directors of Uchumi Supermarkets, Mr. Chris Kirubi, has gone public to say that he told the Minister, in his office, at a meeting two years ago, that there was something wrong with the Uchumi Supermarkets Company Limited and that he must take action to correct it, to avoid it going under. What action did he take two years ago, after Mr. Chris Kirubi talked to him? Secondly, the Minister, in his Ministerial Statement, says that Uchumi Supermarkets Company Limited needed just over Kshs2 billion so as to earnestly revive its activities into profitability. In October, 2005, there was a rights issue at a point when the Government was the majority shareholder. Why did the Government not participate in that rights issue, so as to keep its majority shareholding? Was the Government, in fact, aware that the Uchumi Supermarkets Limited was no longer profitable, and abdicated its duty of informing the rest of the Kenyan public that, that was the situation, so that they would save their shareholding?"
}