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"content": "Secondly, during my campaign to be the Senator for Kericho County, if there is one thing that really appalled and shocked me and I have never reconciled my thoughts to it up to date, it is how difficult it is when you are not properly exposed and given the mental process that it takes – the signs of money making. People find it difficult to make as little as Kshs20 or Kshs50. This room is filled with politicians and you all know campaigns, the Kenyan way. When you finish your meetings, people mill around you. I never knew how much of value Kshs50 can be to some Kenyans out there in the villages, until I went out to campaign. This is, perhaps, very small money that you spend on lunch in a hotel and you leave Kshs200 or Kshs500 tip to the waiter. In the village, there are people who have not been able to get their psyche to the level that you can wake up in the morning and by evening, you have made Kshs50, Kshs100 or Kshs200. It was quite shocking to me because despite being what I would consider a hustler, I had come to understand the psychology of money making and what it takes to make such an amount. However, here comes a Kenyan who wakes up at 6.00 a.m. and by the time they go to bed at 7.00 p.m. or 8.00 p.m., they have not made a single shilling. I thought it was impossible until I was exposed to that kind of world. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is an amendment that tries to focus the legislations that we produce in this House to try and encourage Kenyans and leaders, even as institutions of governance, to realise that there is a group that we must not leave behind if we really want to build a great country. That is one of the major reasons I support this amendment. It recognizes that there are Kenyans who are struggling out there. They need this form of law that will guide and give them some sense of direction to understand that besides being at the low levels of society, they do not have to be there forever. They can be taken care of and mentored so that they grow from whatever level of business they are in and move on to the next. The success of microfinance institutions cannot be complete without having to look back at our history. In Kenya, we have our own success stories, for example, the Equity Bank which is being emulated. One of the stories that have always encouraged me is the story of Prof. Mohammed Yunus of Bangladesh, who is considered to be the father of microfinance. In his institution known as the Grameen Bank, which Equity and other microfinance institutions borrow heavily from, he was able to turn around the small-scale activities, which rural women of a small city of Bangladesh used to engage in for leisure activities like knitting. He taught them to realise that they can turn their activities into a business and a source of income. With time they were able to grow such enterprises to a level where many of them became serious business owners and moved from a life of extreme poverty to a life of abundance. We should, therefore, have such an amendment that considers the lowest cadre of people in the society, for example, those involved in businesses that we do not give thought to. Whenever heads of State visit our country, it means a lot for us, as a nation, and potrays a good image. However, as a legislator and leader, it is my duty to look at the details that are contained in some of the bilateral agreements that we sign with these visiting heads of state. At the end of the day, with no offence intended, I realise that the heads of State are just business people visiting their customers. For example, if you read 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"
}