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{
    "id": 797613,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/797613/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 290,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Katoo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 199,
        "legal_name": "Judah Katoo Ole-Metito",
        "slug": "judah-ole-metito"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the President’s Speech. Let me start by appreciating what he said about the 11th Parliament that worked around the clock for five years making laws that implemented the Constitution. It is through those laws that we can now account for the achievement of the first term of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his second term which has just started. If you look at the achievement of the Jubilee Government in the first term 2013 /2017, just to enumerate a few that the President highlighted, one of them is the issue of devolution. This was the key factor of the new Constitution. Some thought it would not work. Others thought that the Jubilee administration would not support devolution but, as clearly put by His Excellency the President yesterday, the money that has gone to devolution from 2013 to 2017 has increased by 56 per cent. There was no single time during the financial years that the Jubilee administration released the minimum required by the Constitution of 15 per cent. All the while it has been above 15 per cent. By the financial year 2017/2018, there was an increment of 56 per cent in terms of the funds that went to support devolution. That signifies the fact that His Excellency supports devolution. Though I hear some of my colleagues say it is a costly exercise, the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) from 2013-2017 as said by the President, there was an increment of 89.4 per cent of the enrolment from 3.8 to 7.2 million people who have enrolled in the NHIF. That signifies the need for one of the Big Four Agenda in terms of affordable healthcare through the NHIF. That tells you it was a great achievement and that is one of the reasons why the President was reelected. On Gross Domestic Product (GDP), especially in the current financial year where we had a General Election, the global growth of GDP stood at 3.6 per cent. For the Sub-Saharan Africa, it was 2.9 per cent, but the Kenyan GDP still remained resilient at 4.9 per cent. That shows that the Jubilee administration was having sound macro financial management in terms of the economy. Of surprise to all is the position that had been taken by the tourism sector standing at 20 per cent growth in a financial year that had a lot of electioneering processes including unprecedented two presidential elections. Tourism is one of the most fragile sectors in the country, but it remained very strong. Therefore, as I sum up, this says that Kenyans are resilient, strong and the international confidence level for this country is very high. On the Big Four Agenda, a lot has been said but the President gave justification for it. He had focused so much on devolution, infrastructure, security and education during his first term. Now, the Big Four Agenda has become the driving factor but the rest will still remain as enabling factors."
}