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"speaker_name": "Mr. Munyao",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Livestock and Fisheries Development",
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"legal_name": "Joseph Konzolo Munyao",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute in support of the Speech made by His Excellency the President at the opening of this Session of Parliament. I have been in this Parliament now for quite sometime and I have heard many speeches. But you will bear me witness that this Speech was a statesman's Speech. I have had discussions with people in various areas in the country and they all attest that the Speech by His Excellency the President moved Kenyans. Therefore, we ought to support it fully without reservations. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, economic issues worry all governments in the world. However, these issues are very well addressed in the President's Speech. There is no country which will advance without taking care of its economy. We need to improve our economy together, so that we can achieve greater heights of prosperity. Our economy has been growing for the last three years. If this was happening since Independence, we would be among the most developed countries in the world. We are developing significantly under the NARC Government unlike what used to happen under the former regime. If our economy was growing at the current rate way back in 1978, we would be at the level of countries like Korea, Malaysia and others. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, last year, I accompanied the Head of State on a tour of the United States of America to attend an assembly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). During the tour, especially in New York, we met 10,000 Kenyans. Everyone of them had a lot of confidence that if Kenyan economy continued in the same pace, Kenya will be a wonderful country. The kind of support we were getting all over was amazing. We also came through the United Kingdom and had a meeting with investors at Marlborough House. Again, we met over 10,000 Kenyans; both students and investors. All of them had confidence that Kenya was moving in the right direction. I say this because most hon. Members and other people in the country have been talking about the good things the NARC Government has done for this country. But why do some people not appreciate this? I would like to appeal to hon. Members of both sides of the House to appreciate what is good and criticise what is not. Do not just criticise for the sake of it. There is nothing better than the development we are experiencing today in all parts of the country. There was one time in this country where if you did not sing the song of so-and-so, your area would be completely neglected in terms of development. Today's development is based on the poverty index. The poorer your area is, the bigger share of Government revenue you get. This is one of the things we, as leaders, in this country must appreciate. We should come out and speak about it openly. I would appeal to all the hon. Members to try and educate wananchi in their constituencies on what the Government is doing for them. We should get them to support this Government because of the good things it is doing. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Kenya is experiencing its most difficult time during the current prolonged drought. We have never experienced something like this before. The drought has cleared many things, particularly livestock, in many parts of the country. We have tried to do whatever we can to save the situation. We tried to provide grass and water to livestock farmers in 156 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 29, 2006 the 22 affected districts countrywide. However, we also have some constraints. So, there were limits we could not go beyond. We realised that many farmers who believed in holding livestock lost most of the animals they had, to the drought. Therefore, my Ministry is collecting data to establish the level of loss incurred by livestock farmers. Restocking and multiplication of livestock will be our major agenda. Based on the outcome of the data we are collecting, we intend to provide a heifer and a bull to each family engaged in livestock farming in the affected districts. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the prevailing drought has caused a lot of suffering to people in the affected areas mainly due to lack of food. We know that there are areas which have never experienced famine in this country. We also know that there are people who know how to fight famine. For instance, skipping a day without eating is a way of fighting famine. However, the way the Government handled the food distribution process in most of the affected parts of this country is laudable. The affected people are being provided with foodstuffs comprising mainly of mixed diet, cooking oil and drinking water. Everybody here knows as much as I do that this is not the first drought the country is experiencing. So, we have something to compare. We can compare the way the current famine is being handled with the way previous famines were handled. I would also like to applaud the Government for the concern it has shown to the youth of this country. The other day, the President officially launched the Ministry for Youth Affairs. That confirms that the Government's commitment to look into the welfare of this country's youths is unmeasurable. There is no other better way of investing in this country's future than addressing the plight of our youths, who comprise 68 per cent of the Kenyan population. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the NARC Government does not, and will never, support corruption. I would like everybody to speak in support of the Government for that commitment. Corruption has held back this country in terms of development. We should, therefore, work together and clear corruption among ourselves as well as in the Government, so that, together, we strive for better achievement. With those remarks, I beg to support and ask everybody to support the Presidential Address."
}