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"speaker_name": "Mrs. Shebesh",
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"legal_name": "Rachel Wambui Shebesh",
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"content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Motion on setting up of a Parliamentary Select Committee on the Cost of Living. I want to be very brief while stating why I feel that this is a very important committee to set up. It is because of the kinds of questions that Kenyans continue to ask us. These are questions that beg answers that the Government gives in spurts. Once in a while we get answers when we ask these questions. But most of the time the Government is not in agreement. Sometimes we hear contradictions from the Government. Therefore, I think it is about time that the peopleâs representatives who are seated in this House went out to really find out the answers to these very important questions that we are being asked. One of the questions that we have been asked is why there is food crisis. One of the answers we have been given is that it is because of the cost of fuel. When we ask why the cost of fuel has risen, we are given two or three answers. One, we are told about the world fuel prices and the issue of insecurity in the northern regions of this world. We have also been told about corruption and cartels. We have even been told about the issue of the pipeline. So, really it becomes a bit confusing for us to be able to answer critically why the cost of fuel has risen the way it has. That is why we want this Committee to get down to business and find out why this is the case. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, another question we are asked is whether we have enough food reserves in this country. Again, we are told by this very Government that there are over 24 million bags of maize with farmers, which have not been bought by this Government. When we ask why the Government would not be buying maize from its own people, we are told that the people are demanding prices that are higher than those that are used to import maize. Therefore, we think that there needs to be a go- between between the people who are selling the maize and the Government. We believe that this Committee can do that work. We also asked this question: Why is there a shortage of seed? Today I read in the newspapers that the Minister for Agriculture clearly said that it is not her problem that there is seed shortage and that we should find out who was the Minister before her. Again, since this Government is very good at Ministers stepping aside, others being given two portfolios to hold and then there will be a reshuffle, we wonder when this Government will take collective responsibility on issues that are affecting this country because if there is a seed shortage in this country, it is the Government to answer, irrespective of which Minister is there at that time. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am told by my good colleagues from Turkana that there is food in the stores where food relief is taken. The problem is that there is no money to fuel vehicles to take food from those particular stores to the people of Turkana. We see people in Turkana dying, not only of drought but also because of insecurity. The reason being that we cannot transport that food to the people. In a short while, that food will go bad. Again, people will die of starvation yet food was available. I think there is a disconnect within the Government. Another question we are being asked is: Where does the buck stop? Is it at the Ministry of State for Special Programmes or the Ministry of Agriculture? Is it at the Ministry of Finance or the Prime Ministerâs office? Is it the Office of the President? This Government, thanks to its beautiful coalition Government that never seems to work, does not do much. The buck keeps being moved from one area to another, according to convenience. It is about time we said: âListen, this is where the buck stopsâ. This is because, at the end of the day, if a Government agency has been given a responsibility, it must deliver. It cannot keep passing the buck. So, we want to know, what is the role of the Ministry of State for Special Programmes, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Ministerâs Office in this issue of food insecurity and food crisis that is facing this country?"
}