Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 671835,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/671835/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 345,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "of time for Sen. Wamatangi to look at the lacuna in this Micro and Small Enterprises Act to come up with this amendment. What is required now by county governments as Sen. (Prof.) Anyang'-Nyong'o alluded to is vocational training for our young people who have left school looking for white collar jobs. It is incumbent upon the county governments to actualize Chapter 4 of the Constitution so that the notion of white collar jobs for our young people is dissuaded. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, India is a developed country. It has come up with mechanisms of dealing with youths in terms of cottage industries. They are enabled by the Government. Government incentives assist them to have a state of well-being in the economy. The many licenses that are required do not assist the young people to move and have a footing in business. It is incumbent that, first the Governments gives an enabling environment before they start taxing these would-be business entrepreneurs. According to the Constitution, 30 per cent of tenders should be awarded to young people, persons living with disabilities and women. This is an illusion. In the counties, compliance with this constitutional requirement is less than 1 or 2 per cent. As I said earlier, in India, young people in cottage industries manufacture coils, bulbs, sweets, crisps, water, candles, et cetera . This has assisted them to remove the notion of white collar jobs from their minds. In Indonesia, there was an entrepreneur who came up with a bank. It was called the poor man’s bank. He gave an incentive equivalent to Kshs3,000. Women and youth were educated in terms of licence and taxes. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I studied in India for quite a while. There are categories of Middle Income Groups (MIGs), Low Income Groups (LIGs) and High Income Groups (HIGs). There is Government incentive in terms of ration. In those areas, if you were staying in an estate or urban area within the MIGs, the Government gave incentives to business persons and people residing in these areas in terms of rations; food rations for sugar, rice and kerosene. These businesses have much to grow. In Gusii land, for instance, the land of Amatoke as it is called, we have plenty of pineapples and sugarcane which require intervention of the county governments to actualize the constitutional requirement of empowering the people in terms of incentives. Avocados go to waste. A young person or woman comes to a market where there is no toilet facility and water, but they are required to pay taxes. They are harassed the whole day. I believe this amendment will pass and be imbued to the existing Act of Parliament. It is incumbent upon the Government and the young people to follow these regulations and fight for these rights to enable them to move in the right direction in empowering themselves. Right now, we are striving to become a developed economy. However, there is a big problem in how businesses are run. For instance; materials being used in the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) come from outside. Despite billions of shillings being put in this project, Kenyans do not benefit directly and yet they will repay loans for its construction. All subcontracts are carried out by foreigners. I wonder if the national Government is interested in the wellbeing of Kenyans. Kenyans at the grassroots level are wondering where money is. How can they have money when conglomerates or big companies bring along their workforce? 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"
}