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{
    "id": 250427,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/250427/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 198,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Prof. Olweny",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 122,
        "legal_name": "Patrick Ayiecho Olweny",
        "slug": "patrick-olweny"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to add my voice in support of this Motion. In this country, millions of people live below the poverty line. Poverty in this country is notably high. One of the factors that have contributed to poverty amongst Kenyans is the cost of petroleum products. The cost of petroleum products is reflected in the various operations carried out in this country. Some operations are expensive. It has become too expensive for the farmer to fuel his tractors. All the operations that involve the use of petroleum products have become costly. Travelling has become very expensive for the average Kenyan; whether you travel by road, rail or air. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we know that all the manufacturing processes in this country use one form of energy or the other. Sometimes, electricity is produced by burning petroleum products. That makes the industrial products very expensive. We all know that processed food products are expensive mainly because of the high cost of fuel in this country. In the rural areas, the cost of operating posho mills that use diesel is very high. The Jua Kali sector is equally affected. The Government undertook to create 500,000 jobs annually. This can be achieved through the expansion of the Jua Kali sector. It has become difficult to do this because of the high costs of inputs and the fuel required to run some of those operations. Every sector of our economy has been affected by the high cost of petroleum products. The question is: Do the prices of petroleum products in this country reflect the price of crude oil and that of refining crude to the various products? I do not believe that, that is the case. The oil companies operating in Kenya increase the pump price arbitrarily, across the board. It is as if they attend a small Kamukunji where they make a decision on the margin by which each oil company is supposed to increase its pump prices. Nobody understands whether this, indeed, is what the Government intended to achieve when it liberalised this sector."
}