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{
    "id": 515596,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/515596/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 174,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Oyugi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 444,
        "legal_name": "Augostinho Neto Oyugi",
        "slug": "augostinho-neto-oyugi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I would like to support the adoption of this BPS as further amended. Before I speak to the main document, allow me to speak to the resolutions of the Senate that we adopted to have as part of the BPS. Paragraph 2 of the Senate Resolutions talks about direct cash disbursements to persons with disabilities, persons of old age and social safety net programmes. I think the proposal from the Senate is welcome. Presently, the way we conduct business in terms of advancing money to old people, orphans and other people in need is not very well thought out. In these various sectors, you find clusters and various spheres that are not very well coordinated. So, you have parts of the country where a few old people benefit and other parts where a few orphans benefit. There ought to be a matrix of sorts in terms of either we agree that we are going to give people of a certain age limit all the money across the country and even if is 1,000 people in a particular age group, that then should be thought through. We should also think about how we, for example, support vulnerable persons of a particular cadre so that it is not haphazardly done in the manner we are doing it currently. This is because it creates an interesting distinction and most people do not understand how we are moving. It is possible to allocate more money to support the disadvantaged groups but the process of doing that needs to be thought through, through a particular matrix. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. The second thing is the two policies that the Senate does speak to. These are honourable things, but the country needs to have an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy and a policy on leasing of equipment. Right now there is a small controversy between the county governments and national Government on the basis of leasing equipment for medical services. We ought to have a Government that is run on the basis of policy. Most of the things we do as a country look like they have no policy foundation. They look like people wake up and haphazardly do them. Moving forward, we ought to have, for example, a listing of equipment policy so that if we lease equipment for hospitals it is clear. In the BPS, issues of leasing cars to police and security if not thought through in terms of policy issues, might end up favouring a couple of people if not properly done and that gives route to corruption. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the other thing I would like to speak to is the need to boost agricultural production. Kenya being 70 per cent an agricultural country, we ought to be thinking about how best to give incentives to our farmers. Progressive countries give subsidies to their various farmers. Farmers in places that grow maize and millet ought to know how much money they will be earning per sack of maize and millet. Then, they will have an incentive and a reason to produce more to make Kenya a food secure country. We cannot be 70 per cent an agricultural country yet we are always in the business of giving relief food or importing food to feed our own. If we cannot feed ourselves as a country, then we are in the wrong track. This only happens because our 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."
}