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{
    "id": 696488,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/696488/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 279,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Muhia",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 968,
        "legal_name": "Wanjiku Muhia",
        "slug": "wanjiku-muhia"
    },
    "content": "only call them unpatriotic thieves. It is unfortunate that many countries experience corruption, but in Kenya corrupt people do not have the wisdom to even try and invest back in Kenya. If this MoU was negotiated by directors who aimed at helping the institution, and I want to believe they have negotiation skills, they could only negotiate to the disadvantage of KQ for their own interest. For this reason, institution and the country have lost billions of shillings. Worse still, the ‘Pride of Africa’ will be the ‘Shame of Kenya’. As a House, we must stand tall. We must make hard decisions. Sometimes hard decisions are called for by the situation. I want to challenge these businessmen to be men enough and compete competitively with KQ, like what other businessmen do in other countries. Virgin Airlines compete perfectly with British Airways. So, there is no issue why these people want to bring KQ down. To whose advantage? Possibly, the select committee will bring this to light. I do not understand how people can sit round a table and negotiate to the disadvantage of a country in which they are shareholders. They could possibly have negotiated to their advantage and the institution would still have benefited. We must stand tall. We should challenge the said directors to give Kenyans back what belongs to them and they go and establish their own airline which should compete with KQ. Time has come for this House to make history, perhaps by reviving a law that was one time discussed in this House by Hon. Kang’ata. I am of the same idea with Hon. Kang’ata. We wanted to use the law used in China where if you are found corrupt, the penalty is death sentence. From death sentence, others can learn. Otherwise, we continue going in circles. We seem not to learn and we will never learn. If you go to Istanbul, Turkish Airline is like Mpesa here in Kenya. The way Safaricom has branded everything, Turkish Airline is branded everywhere. It is deliberate that KQ does not even do marketing. They do not even brand. If you are in Nairobi and you are looking for KQ offices, you may not even know where to find it if you do not know where Barclays Plaza is. Today, going to Mombasa costs Kshs23,000. Interestingly, it costs Kshs6,000 with Jambojet. These are questions that we must ask as a House and they must be answered. As I end, the saddest thing is the amount of money the Jubilee Government has invested in infrastructure in terms of making JKIA a nice airport. It will be an airport for other airlines, but not for us. It is sad indeed. Finally, the President has toured many countries trying to negotiate, even for America, to have direct flights. It will be very sad if KQ cannot go to the USA directly. With those few remarks, I support."
}