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{
    "id": 644495,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/644495/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 63,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Dr.) Ottichilo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 131,
        "legal_name": "Wilber Ottichilo Khasilwa",
        "slug": "wilber-ottichilo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Bill. It has come at the right time when this country is facing a major financial crisis. It is for this reason that I support this Bill. In the 10th Parliament you recall this Bill with the same intention was brought by Hon. Jakoyo Midiwo, we debated it, we approved it but it was shot down when it came to assent. I hope this time round His Excellency the President will assent to this Bill because it is very important. Kenyans cannot access loans in banks because the interest rates charged are obscene. If you go for a loan they will tell you the interest rates, but they do not tell you the other hidden charges. So, immediately you take their loan you find that the interest rates have gone up. If they had told you it is 15 per cent, you discover that you are paying 30 per cent. In the process they keep on compounding the interest. So, if you borrow even Kshs5million and you default a bit, you end up paying so much money. Therefore, we must control these banks. The CBK must come out and control them. It is obvious our CBK has let us down. If it was doing its work then this Bill would not be necessary but it has failed and for that reason, it is important that this House takes the responsibility to bring order and sanity in the banking system. In this proposed amendment, it has been proposed that if the banks failed to comply with this the penalty provided, in my view, is too little. Charging them Kshs1million for defaulting to comply is nothing. So, in the Third Reading, we need to enhance the penalty from Kshs1million to Kshs10 million and from one year to five years. This is so that we bring sanity to the banking industry. Our people cannot borrow money from these banks because of the high interest rates. Therefore, because of that people decide to borrow from shylocks who are equally a problem because they also put high interest rates and if you do not pay they put harder conditions. So, it is better that we put sanity in our banking industry. Most of us have had a chance to stay in Europe and the United States of America (USA). The interest rates in those countries are not more than 4 per cent at any given time. I have stayed in the Netherlands for almost six years and the interest rates on any loan were not more than 2 per cent. I wonder why we should have interest rates in this country going beyond 30 per cent. One wonders what happens. Banks do not have their own money. They only get a certificate from the CBK to operate and then they open offices, buy a few computers, advertise and ask Kenyans to bring their money. Banks do not invest their own money. The money they are trading with is Kenyans’ money. How comes once they get your money, they charge you so much? It is like they are penalising you for putting your money in their account. In some cases when you leave your money in their accounts, instead of getting interest, they deduct more money from you. I have had a chance where my bank account remained dormant because I was out of the country. When I came back after two years I was in the negative. I wondered what happened to my account. It was a savings account, I expected to find more money in the account but instead I found a negative figure. So, you can see how serious this matter is. 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."
}