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{
    "id": 470153,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/470153/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 81,
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    "content": "counties. So, I salute you for the commendable job that you all did. Likewise, I would like to congratulate the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker on their election. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Presidential Address was generally a Speech that touched on the various critical sectors of the economy and it was in line with the Vision 2030. He talked about having a lean Government and, indeed, you have now seen that he has formed a lean Government in line with what he told us about minimizing confusion and wastefulness in his Government. The President also touched on the issues of the world economy and the problems that we are all facing because of the implications of what has happened in the world during the recession. The President then outlined what he felt that he would be doing and the policies that he will be making in order to alleviate these problems. What touched me and what impressed me is that he understood the importance of agriculture which has been the driver for economic development. It is very well known that Kenya relies heavily on rain- fed agriculture. We also rely on traditional methods of farming. It is important that we now have to adopt modern farming methods and encourage research and development in order to get high yield varieties that are also pest resistant. Mr. Speaker, Sir, while talking about agriculture, it is important to note that we have constantly been relying on raw exports instead of value-adding. Instead you should be giving incentives for value-adding. In this regard, it is necessary that mechanisms for value-adding are put in place and to enhance the manufacturing sector as the value chain of the agricultural sector. That is the line I think we should be taking and the President alluded to it. In the last five years, we have invested heavily in the transport sector but I feel that it has been skewed such that the agriculturally rich areas such as Baringo, Uasin Gishu, the highlands of Baringo, Narok, Kisii and Nyandarua where the feeder and link roads have not been developed. We have concentrated on the superhighways which are okay, but we need to develop link and access roads within our counties. It is also important that we develop other modes of transport such as air, water and rail in order to reduce the strain on our road network. It is important that we should promote Kenya to be a logistics hub in eastern and central Africa. With this maintenance, the cost of our roads will be contained to a bare minimum. The President added his voice to the Vision 2030 and many of my colleagues have alluded to the fact of the middle income group, but we must understand that it is important that in order to create a middle income group within a generation, we have to take bold steps towards increasing aggregate supply in the country. The county governments are expected to play a crucial role towards this end in facilitating poverty reduction. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the other issue he touched on was the monster in the room which is the high wage bill. We all know that the wage bill now stands at 12 per cent of GDP and we are told that the norm should be 7 per cent of GDP. This expenditure is unsustainable. You have heard them talking about salaries of Parliamentarians; that they are going to save Kshs3 billion by reducing our salaries. That may be the case, but you do realize that we have been told that Kshs300 billion is wasted. It is leaking and it is not spent by us. So, Kshs3 billion is a miniscule amount. If we were to make sure that we 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."
}