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{
    "id": 579154,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/579154/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 235,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Prof.) Nyikal",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 434,
        "legal_name": "James Nyikal",
        "slug": "james-nyikal"
    },
    "content": "sometimes I am worried about people who are in big businesses. How do they borrow money, invest it, pay bank interest and get something? We need more banks that are competing and with proper regulations. Therefore, we will have to look at that area. To rise from Kshs2 billion to Kshs5 billion within three years is a bit strange. We also know that when you start having these big banks, there is a tendency that if they get into problems, they get quick help from public funds. The Government says: “This bank is too big to fail.” Therefore, because of their size, they get help from public resources. This is not necessary. The same applies to mortgage companies. As earlier said, if we have that high requirement for mortgage, it will definitely translate into higher mortgage rates. I have just said that I do not understand what mortgage means as an investment anymore. The money you put in, you cannot get it back. You have to get more from your pocket. There is also the issue of fuel levy. My simple experience in life is that nothing fuels inflation as much as the cost of fuel because there is nothing that goes into any household that is not attached to fuel. Transport, manufacturing and distribution are fuel dependent. As much as I know that we want roads, this is an area we have to look at and see if we want to increase up to Kshs3 per litre. That is on the higher side. One area that we need to look at is corruption in the petroleum industry. You may not know but the level of corruption in that industry is high. There is adulteration of fuel. Most of us do not know that the fuel we are putting in our expensive cars may not be super as we think. It is but a mixture of super and kerosene. This is something that is known. If you go to Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the senior officials will tell you: “There is nothing we can do. The police know.” They tell you sometimes: “We know the depots. They are fenced and watchmen are there.” Even the ERC officials call the police when they want to go and inspect these depots but the police are reluctant to go. We need to do something about corruption in the petroleum industry. There is also the sugar issue. The basic thing is the cost of production in Kenya. I do not think that it is the cost of the inputs. Why should Kenya be spending US $80,000 per tonne in production while other countries on the average are spending US $30,000 per tonne? It is just corruption. In the sugar industry, when they are crushing, you may not know, they crush air. Sometimes when they say that so-and-so has brought 100 tonnes, what has been brought is about 50 tonnes. Obviously if you crush 50 tonnes and you say that you have crushed 100 tonnes, your cost of production has gone up twice. If we did not have this, countries that are hankering to bring sugar into Kenya would not be interested. So, there is mismanagement. Again, the issue of corruption should be looked at in the petroleum industry. We are happy with the annuity programme of roads but we are taking too long. I can see the Leader of the Majority Party is here. Some of us are beginning to wonder whether it is really going to work as planned or it will hit a snag. The country should be able to know. We are all waiting for these roads. We know where they are and we are looking forward to when they will start. If the fuel levy can sort out the problem and we go back to direct financing of roads so be it. There is also the issue of retirement benefits. As a country with such big income disparity, we must start looking at the income of retirees. Therefore, to have laws that seek proper auditing, like the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) and exempting goods that are used in film production is good. I have also noticed that the 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."
}