Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 571682,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/571682/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 279,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "establish universities. For instance, in the case of Kitale Town in Trans Nzoia Town, which is an old municipality, we have never had a fully fledged university. This is an item that has been in our agenda. I have been personally pursuing it with the CUE. I have seen Prof. Some, and from the look of it is that it is possible. We would want them to move faster. I believe this Bill which requires that there is a progress report; will ensure that the CUE moves faster. In our case, the issue is not land. We have land for development and the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) farms, some of which are quite idle. We think that they should establish a university to cater for agricultural training in ADC. It is in line with their mandate which is agricultural development because training of human resource in agriculture and research in agriculture is a function for ADC. A university will complement that purpose. Madam Temporary Speaker, a university in a county has so many benefits. Apart from training the youth, universities, if well utilized, can be centres for research in the various challenges that face the particular counties. Various counties have different ecological zones and different challenges. Therefore, locating universities that address those challenges in research will be beneficial, not only to the universities themselves, but also to the local people and the county governments. For instance, we have had many agricultural challenges in Trans Nzoia County. For example, animal diseases come and we do not detect them early enough. We do not have a laboratory in Kitale to address this issue. If there are samples to be taken, they have to be brought all the way to Nairobi for testing. Sometimes the results are delayed and samples get spoilt along the way. Establishing a university also helps in testing soils. For a long time, we have been using fertilizer that is making our soils unproductive because it is acidic. The more you apply it, the more the soils become acidic. This has happened because there has not been any institution that is doing research and advising farmers on the best practices in managing their soils for better productivity. Madam Temporary Speaker, as I have said earlier, university education is no longer a luxury. The CUE that is established should look at a university as a national university. Since we are establishing universities in every county, they should address the national functions. I want the CUE to ensure that there is less duplication in courses such that we have a centre of excellence in every county for national purposes. Previously, Egerton University was a centre of excellence for agriculture. Kitale may as well be the second one. Counties like Turkana can specialize in oil, so that we have centres of excellence."
}