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{
    "id": 644548,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/644548/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 116,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Barua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1529,
        "legal_name": "Ejidius Njogu Barua",
        "slug": "ejidius-njogu-barua"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for this opportunity to add my voice to this important Bill. This Bill is mainly centred on curbing interest rates. It has come at the right time. In fact, it is long overdue because Kenyans have suffered for long. One of the pillars of this economy and which has supported the economies of other countries is SMEs and micro enterprises as well. With the current bank interest rates in Kenya, SMEs cannot depend on banks to access seed capital. If you cannot get seed capital for SMEs, it means that the poor and the young, who come from universities with good ideas, cannot depend on banks to help them start up, improve their lives and grow the economy of this nation. As one of the previous speakers has said, SACCOs operate at 1 per cent per month and still make profit. Because of their low monthly and yearly interest rates, they do big volumes of business. So, banks must not charge high interest rates to make profits. That is why I support the Bill. These interest rates must and should be capped. This House is doing the right thing. Banks in Kenya are making the rich richer. We must ensure that the poor can also look at banks as instruments of improving their wealth. If one gets a bank loan at an interest rate of between 20 and 30 per cent per annum, that is one of the overheads of business and it is most unlikely that the business will make profits from the initiative to repay the loan. The poor and young who wish to start businesses, find banks very risky and do not approach banks for loans hence they do not benefit from the banks. What has happened in the banking sector in terms of the Imperial Bank and the Chase Bank sagas is a warning to Kenyans that their money is not safe even in these banking institutions. It is for this reason that I propose that financial operations and the health of the over 40 banks and other micro finance institutions in Kenya should be made public, so that Kenyans can know where they can safely deposit their money. Penalties on banks which default or cause the money of the poor sink is too low. Apart from curbing interest rates, the penalty should be increased so that banks can take care of depositors’ money. In any sector, start-ups require entrepreneurs to be risk takers. At 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."
}