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{
    "id": 470139,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/470139/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 67,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "telling me to remove my glasses so that you can spot me, but you have eventually done so. I would like to take this opportunity to also thank members of my county in Nakuru for having elected me as their first Senator in the last elections. They woke up early and in very harsh conditions and, by the end of the day, they gave me 300,000 votes from 11 constituencies. That places me number three as the most elected Senator in this House. To them, I say thank you very much. I would also like to congratulate the Senators that are in this House both elected and nominated. It is not easy for one to get to where my fellow senators are. This is my seventh month in politics and I have learnt a lot. I would like to make some few remarks on the Presidential Address. My remarks will touch on several issues that were contained in His Excellency’s Speech. I will start with the issue of industrialization. The main hindrance to industrialization in our country is the cost of electricity. I am an industrialist. I know that the cost of electricity is a major factor when it comes to production of anything in this country. So, I would apparently request the Government to look at the electricity factor because it is quite central in ensuring that many industries are started in our country. Many Senators have stood here asking the Government to start factories. I find it quite interesting because it is very difficult for the Government to start industries. The only thing that the Government can do is to create an enabling environment or atmosphere for investors to come in and put up industries. The cost of fuel also is another factor that the Government can look at to ensure that production of anything in our country is cheaper and thereby make our country attractive to investors from out. When I say from out, it is because most Kenyans believe that industries can be started by people from outside and not ourselves. That stigma, I believe, should be eliminated by people believing that they can start industries. Counties like Japan and China while running their industries always ensure that the profitability level of any venture that they are investing in, they get a profit of 50 per cent. In our country, most of the businesses that are in Kenya thrive on a business percentage of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent, meaning that we ourselves can start factories that would employ many youths who remain jobless thus engaging in crime because of idleness. I am happy that in the Presidential Speech, he touched on technical colleges in most of the counties. Technical colleges were there before and unfortunately most of the graduates who were coming out were trained in disciplines that were not very marketable. My request would be that when these colleges are being restarted or revitalized, the content of the courses that will be taught should be in tandem with what is required by the factories that we have in the country. I would also request that we go down to the level of the village so that we restart the village polytechnics because there is another level that cannot be admitted to the technical colleges. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Rural Electrification Programme (REP) has played a very big role in our country by opening up areas that would, otherwise, not have had electricity. This has come in handy for areas where cottage industries can be based. There is one Senator who talked about electricity being in his area, but just a single phase. 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."
}