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{
    "id": 895745,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/895745/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 263,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kibiru",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13196,
        "legal_name": "Charles Reubenson Kibiru",
        "slug": "charles-reubenson-kibiru"
    },
    "content": "we went to one of the hospitals and there was some theatre equipment that could not add up. When we asked the experts there, they said that they were given a bed which was supposed to be an operation bed, but then it turned out to be a maternity bed. There is some other equipment that has been lying there. There is no three phase power, water and so on for two years yet the counties are paying for that. As much as we want to help and offer services to our people, we need to plan. We need to agree on what is the value for money. When a county is asked to pay Kshs200 million every year because of equipment they are not using, that is not fair to the counties, Wanjiku and this country. We need to act and deal with issues where we are not putting money where it is supposed to be; good ideas but bad implementation. That is why I am saying we need to improve. If we were to go back, we can do better. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the other issue is agriculture. We all know what is happening in this country. The other day, even my neighbour, the Senator for Embu County was asking for donations of relief food. Where he comes from, there are many rivers. These are issues we should not be talking about in the 21st Century in this country. The Government can do better than that. As I said, in the period before the structural adjustment programme, everything was working. We had extension officers, Artificial Insemination (AI) services, people who would advise and tree nurseries to buy or be given seedlings from. In Kenya, we need not go to the route of being so dependent on hand outs from the Government. We need to come up with a deliberate effort to create an enabling environment where 70 to 80 per cent of Kenyans can generate income so that they can buy some of the services offered by the Government or other institutions. We can then set aside the remaining 20 per cent for welfare purposes. When we say everything is free - education, healthcare and so on - that is why in another language you hear Kenyans from other parts of the country saying, “saidia sisi serikali”. We do not want to have that kind of an economy. We want an economy where very hardworking Kenyans are enabled. To that end, when the President says that there will be Kshs3 billion set aside to help the coffee farmers in terms of advance payments, it has to be structured. Well said but how will it reach the people? How will it revolve? How will we ensure that there are no defaults? How will the Government implement that without involving elected leaders who know what happens on the ground and what needs to be done? That area is lacking, it needs some emphasis. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, let me now talk about manufacturing or industrialization. I am the Chairperson of the Committee of Tourism, Trade and Industrialisation. Governors have appeared before us. The other day we had the Chairman of the Council of Governors (CoG) Committee in charge of Trade, Investment, Manufacturing and Co-operatives. They told us that this is a pipe dream. As we speak, there is no county other than probably Murang‘a, Laikipia, Makueni and Kitui which can exhibit the road map towards manufacturing. A Senator here mentioned about the major industries that the President mentioned. Industrialisation does not mean that we must go to foreigners to come and put in money for purposes of industrialisation. We need to help the counties. This could by way of, for example, the Kshs200 million that is being put to equipment. We should put up The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}