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{
    "id": 416637,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/416637/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 21,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mulu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1955,
        "legal_name": "Benson Makali Mulu",
        "slug": "benson-makali-mulu"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this amendment and it is quite timely bearing in mind the policy that 30 per cent of the national procurement business should be given to the youth. In terms of legal framework, the Procurement and Disposal Act had not factored that. When you look at the population of Kenya, 54 per cent of it is actually categorized as the youth. These are the people in the age group of 18 to 35 years. It is also reported that about 70 per cent of the youth are unemployed. The question which we must ask ourselves as leaders is: How do we resolve this problem of unemployment? This law will go a long way in trying to solve this problem, if not fully, it will contribute in a big way to reducing it. When you look at the national Budget this year, the total is about Kshs.1.5 trillion. If you remove the Recurrent Expenditure, more so in terms of salaries and the rest, you will find that the Government this year will be procuring goods and services worth about Kshs.800 billion. If the youth are able to access this money, 30 per cent being almost Kshs.200 billion, we will really be helping the youth of this country. It is obvious that the youth are among the marginalized alongside the women and disabled and this is across the board. When you look at this House, you will realize that it is only about 11 per cent of its total membership that can be categorized as youth. We really need to go that extra mile to amend this law, so that the youth are able to access the funds. It is very important now that yesterday we passed, as a House, the Uwezo Fund Regulations. When the youth are able to access this Fund, some of them will use it to supply goods and services to the Government. That way, they will not have problems with financing or capital. There are two or three things we need to consider as a House for amendments. For example, the directors of the companies which are going to be opened, the proposal is that 100 per cent of them should be categorized as youth. At the same time you will realize that most of the Government procurement processes demand that you first supply The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}