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"id": 255928,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/255928/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kagwima",
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"speaker": {
"id": 286,
"legal_name": "Francis Nyamu Kagwima",
"slug": "francis-kagwima"
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, that is why I am saying that we need to join hands and fight poverty so that we have a united Kenya with sound policies in agriculture and other areas. We should revive those sectors that used to enhance the strength of our economy. I just picked on coffee simply because I served in that sector in those days when coffee was doing well. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we now have tea and what we read about it is not very encouraging either. At times we hear that the prices of tea have gone down. We also hear that the production is not good and hence, the quality is affected. There is a bit of politics slowly creeping into the tea sub-sector. We should guard against that, so that we do not put the tea sub-sector where the coffee sub-sector is. If we do not do that, we will also kill the tea sub-sector. So, I just want to appeal to those involved in the tea sub-sector to ensure that we sustain our production in terms of quantity and quality. We also need to be aggressive in terms of marketing the same, so that we sustain the market. We do not, of course, produce when we do not have somewhere to sell our produce. 23 March, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 89 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to appeal to the Ministry of Energy to ensure that there is electricity in the rural areas. This is the only way we can start industries in those areas. We all know that our towns are congested. Nairobi City, for example, is excessively congested. It has also become another centre of poverty. So, if we have electricity in the rural areas, we shall have small agricultural industries. As a result, we shall create employment and ease population pressure in towns. This will encourage people living in the rural areas to be more productive. However, in the last few years, the management of the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) decided to save depositors' money and earn interest. It is a pity that they boasted of having made a lot of profit from that interest. I am happy that action was taken and some of those people responsible were suspended. But we need to resolve the matter quickly so that, that money is utilised to supply electricity to the rural areas. I am one of the people who have been adversely affected. Partly, I am happy because the Government paid some money to the KPLC but, unfortunately KPLC kept it in a deposit account. About Kshs472 million is still in their account. I want to appeal to the Acting Minister for Energy to move quickly to ensure that the money is properly utilised. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) form about 75 per cent of the land mass in this country. In the past, we have argued that there are high potential and low potential areas in this country. But we have learnt that with the technology that exists, we can convert those ASAL areas into arable areas. If we do so, we will ease the population pressure in those densely-populated areas in our country. So, it is important for us to improve infrastructure in the ASAL areas so that they become productive. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to talk about employment. In the last few years, we have seen the mushrooming of universities; both public and private. This is good because, whereas, in the past, we used to sent very many people to overseas, we are now able to have them trained locally. But if the training programmes are not matched with the availability of jobs--- Kenyans spend a lot of money on education, but end up without jobs. As a result, we are encouraging poverty. If we convert those ASAL areas into productive lands, or create industries in the rural areas, our people who have gone through universities and other training institutions will be employed. They will be useful to us by exercising their knowledge and skills. They will be able also to recover some of the money that their parents spent on educating them. The few cows that they used to have, for example, have already been sold. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}