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{
"id": 273054,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/273054/?format=api",
"text_counter": 400,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kabando wa Kabando",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports",
"speaker": {
"id": 31,
"legal_name": "Kabando wa Kabando",
"slug": "kabando-kabando"
},
"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Motion. It is important that issues to do with public information and those that have the potential to hugely influence public perceptions and decision-making are interrogated. There should be disclosures of the processes and the dynamics behind such important matters. The Constitution has permitted instruments of State, public organs, the civil society and community at large to engage in disclosures. Matters of public interest can be petitioned by an individual citizen. This morning, before this House, a Motion was passed to include an individual in an important committee, and that is in the context of inclusiveness and diversity. In the Constitution and the organs created by the Constitution, you cannot ignore any religion, ethnicity, generation or race. Since this very important instrument of decision making--- By the way, the opinion polls in Kenya seem to be hugely tilted towards political issues and not other consumer interest matters. It is significantly on politics. That should, in itself, if not for any other reason, invite us to interrogate what should be done to ensure that there is improvement of accountability, transparency and due diligence. This is because you cannot explain how in one week two proclaimed dominant organizations can carry the same theme on an opinion poll and produce significantly very different results. It means that we need benchmarking. Perceptions are very important. We cannot outlaw opinion polling. In fact, they should be encouraged to deal with other important issues. For instance, there is the report that was launched recently about the sad situation in public universities on issues of tribalism and ethnicity where campuses are being created as bastions of certain ethnic groups and regions. These are some of the issues that pollsters should be focusing on. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are issues that are coming now of dissatisfaction within various sectors. For instance, there was the issue of the main broadcaster, the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC). Was there no way even internally an opinion poll could have been commissioned to show the perceptions of the satisfaction levels of employees within this main State broadcaster? It is important to continue interrogating to understand the situations; customer satisfaction and perceptions within institutions. Is it not sad that while we are polling the popularity or otherwise of those who are rated to be serious presidential candidates in an election that has not been announced and likely to be a year away, we have not conducted satisfaction levels of workers within the health sector to the extent that today we are at crossroads. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, opinion polls have the capacity for negative influence. They also have the capacity for positive influence. Let us acknowledge and appreciate that polling in the last eight or nine years is part of the new dispensation that came with the collapse of the ruling party, KANU, in 2002. This is because before then, there was no opinion polling about the popularity or otherwise of the former regime. It is something that is new. So, taking it in tandem and placing a mechanism that produces good governance among pollsters is a good way to go. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are now complaining of the monies being shipped overseas. We have just concluded the Motion on the decline of the Kenya shilling. One of the issues and spirit of that Motion that I believe have been captured is the need to reform the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), so that it is elevated to compete with commercial banks, co-operatives and SACCOs. We are not yet interrogating what is happening in the financial sector in a way that will prevent an abuse of the financial sector. We have not solidified the status of the CMA to enable that institution to rein in rogue brokers and other forces that could actually be stealing resources from Kenya. We need to understand who pays opinion pollsters. Today, every office of the Government is obliged to show how they have profiled or enumerated all the employees. They are actually obliged by the Constitution to ensure that there is diversity; that every region, community and generation is included in their profiles."
}