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"content": "Assembly (EALA). He was then promoted to the level of a Permanent Secretary (PS) in charge of Higher Education, Research and Social Services, which was a common services organization. That meant that he was in charge of all the research stations in East Africa. For higher education, it meant that the universities in East Africa and the constituent colleges of Makerere, Dar Es Salaam and Nairobi. But then I asked him this question: I can understand higher education, but I do not understand research; is it all that important? Why can we not just depend on what the wazungu’s had brought us? Why must we do research? He, being an educationist, took me around the nearest Alupe Hospital in Busia, which was specializing in the treatment of leprosy. Then it occurred to me. Then, of course, as I grew up, I began knowing the importance of research. Madam Temporary Speaker, the problem why we may continue to be a developing country for many years to come, despite all the things that are going on, is that we have attached very little importance to the issue of research; research which is consistent with our own conditions here. In other words, we tend to depend on the research products of the western countries and we feel that they can be applied here wholesome, whereas really, they cannot. That is why I support this Bill, because developed countries are where they are today because of the importance they put on research. Even when we are in the international fora and we are talking about the development of third world countries, we normally say “no, we do not want aid; what we want is trade; but more importantly, what we want is transfer of technology.” This technology does not just come about just like that; it is as a result of research. But even if that technology is transferred to you and it is not customized to your country and the conditions in your country, of what use is that technology that you are now getting, yet it is going to be transferred to you at a great cost? One can say that because we have not emphasized on research, our people are not aware of the importance of research, that is why third world countries have been exploited by the developed countries who have undertaken research. This is research from the knowledge which has come from us. Madam Temporary Speaker, you know about the medicine called quinine, which used to treat malaria. The United States of America used to use it but they had not realized the importance of quinine. Somebody there, coming from a developed country, goes there and started asking questions like “what do you do?” like a joke. He then wrote the answers down, went back to his country and said that he had discovered the treatment for Quinine; he got millions of Dollars out of the information that he got from our poor peasants from Latin America. Madam Temporary Speaker, when you talk about plant varieties and so on, India was able to reach sufficiency in food because of research to produce the right variety of wheat. But the Americans said that the Government of India sort of stole their research on wheat. There was a very big case at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO is all the time dealing with disputes that arise as a result of research, because everybody knows that, that research has resulted in this and that. Since it has resulted in a particular type of product and the amount of money involved is immense, you will find people fighting on these issues. So, research is very important. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}