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{
    "id": 797879,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/797879/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 253,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "May 9, 2018 SENATE DEBATES 44 Sen. M. Kajwang'",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I wish to join my colleagues in the Senate to express my thanks to the President for his exposition of public policy contained in the State of the Nation Address of 2018. In the past, the State of the Nation Address has evoked different emotions and reactions from Members of Parliament and the public. There are occasions where we have given the President a standing ovation like it happened in 2015 when he came and declared serious war on corruption. He went ahead to give an ultimatum to members of his Cabinet and other state and public officers to step aside because they had been implicated in corruption. The State of Nation Address has invited jeering and whistle blowing in the past as was the case in 2016 when it was chaotic and other addresses have been boycotted. It is important to note that in the last Address, Members of Parliament sat quietly and attentively. They were eager and excited at the end of the Address. This is a constitutional requirement thus it is difficult to fault the President for having not said something which is not contained in the Constitution because the Constitution requires the President to lay three reports before the House. However, I would wish to encourage my colleagues and the nation to put pressure on the President to include a fourth report which will be a report on food security or the food situation in this country when he comes to Parliament to deliver the state of the nation address. That can be achieved through tabling of a food balance sheet. A food balance sheet would summarise the food holding and the stocks that we have in this country for human and animal consumption. It will provide us with a balanced picture and give us the assurance that Kenyans and Kenya is not going to go into the kind of situation we have been in before, where we have been forced to import maize and subsidize maize so as to meet the dietary requirements of Kenyans. This is a requirement that does not require a referendum because Article 255 of the Constitution does not envisage that if you are going to expand the contents of the state of nation address, you have to do a referendum. Therefore, it is one area that I offer to bring a Motion to the House for us to impress upon the President, on his own Motion or the Motion of the House, that he could also table a food balance sheet. That way, all those involved in agriculture and food production in this country will take their jobs seriously. When we were in Kakamega, during the Devolution Conference and the President talked to us, I was very happy when he pointed out to those involved in agriculture that the he is tired of this obsession with fertilizer, seed and maize subsidy. That obsession arises out of the huge amounts of money involved. Sometimes it is corruption that motivates the obsession with the three areas. The President called them out directly. On that issue, I support the President and if we made it a requirement that he brings a food balance sheet to Parliament, then people will start taking their jobs seriously. I want to talk about what the President talked about rather than what he did not talk about. I was excited that the President started his Address by talking about devolution and how it has performed in the country. I share the same view with the President that devolution has been a mixed bag of success. We have counties like Makueni that started off on a very rocky note where people were threatening to kill each other and even dissolve the county but today, they are able to process juice out of mangoes, package it and take it to the market. They are able to package their milk which 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"
}