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"content": "There were a few other national concerns. For example, there is a serious imbalance between counties at the moment. I do not know how true it is, but during the last election, the people who were looking for votes in Nairobi County were saying that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Nairobi County is 60 or 70 per cent. Even if they were wrong and it is 50 per cent, for example, even that is totally wrong. If you look at all countries all over the world, even federal ones like India and Germany, there is no country among the 50 or 20 which normally has 2 or 3 per cent above the others. They are more or less equal. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we have such serious disparities in this country. For example, if you consider Nairobi County, its GDP is between 60 or 70 per cent while some counties have very little. That is the reason school leavers from all corners of the Republic come to Nairobi Country to seek for employment and other opportunities. Someone did some statistics that within three years of every student finishing the Form Four examinations, 70 per cent will have found their way to Nairobi County. This is because they believe that is where employment opportunities are. It could be very true because this is where we have most of the industries, employment opportunities and the GDP is high. We must undo this kind of situation. I know there has been some outcry of too much rural-urban migration in Kenya, but I am not very much worried about it. In fact, we should be urbanised. The problem in Kenya is that we do not have rural-urban migration, but “rural-Nairobi” migration. We must undo and try to equalize so that one does not have to leave their county just because any job is found in Nairobi. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Fourth Schedule does not mention industrialization specifically. I tried to look for it, but it is not there. The Jubilee Government has taken the initiative for industrialization. However, I am not satisfied that the industrialization that the Government is doing is enough. Apart from maybe generally at the micro level in the counties, we are yet to see any movement in industrialization. To that extent, I do wish and hope that the Government will support this initiative. The Senate is here to protect the interests of counties and their governments. In a wider sense of that definition in Article 96 of the Constitution, it is our job as the Senate to also help facilitate the enhancement of the economy of those counties. For economies of those counties to flourish and increase income of our people living there, we need to start valuing statistics. For example, the GDP used to be US$34 billion, but we have we revalued our assets and found it to be US$50. I do not know how valid it is, but let us assume it is US$50. However, when you work with that figure, you will find that the Per Capita Income (PCI), which is very important when you are evaluating economic status of people and states, is about US$1500. If that is the PCI on average, we should ask ourselves what is the PCI in Siaya, Tana River and Migori counties? Chances are that this PCI is an average which may comprise that of Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu counties. This is about 90 per cent of for the whole country. However, for other counties, it might be about US$150. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is the kind of situation which make as say our economy is growing between 3 or 6 per cent. This year, it is envisaged to grow between 6 and 7 per cent. However, it is a pity that the desperation of our people looking for school fees and putting food on the table, is the same as it was many years ago. The only way we can undo this kind of situation is to put a bit more money in their pockets. 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."
}