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{
    "id": 910361,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/910361/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 329,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Henry Rotich",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13142,
        "legal_name": "Henry Rotich",
        "slug": "henry-rotich"
    },
    "content": "Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Business-to-Consumer E-commerce Index of 2018. In May 2019, His Excellency the President launched the Kenya’s Digital Economy Blueprint for Africa in Kigali, Rwanda. The blueprint serves as one of Kenya’s contributions to SMART Africa Alliance in its role as the champion for Digital Economy within the Alliance and proponent of an African-wide digital economy. The adoption of the Digital Economy framework offers us an opportunity to leapfrog and join nations in the First World and actively contribute to the global economy. The Government will continue with its initiatives to recapitalise and restructure the banks that are partially or wholly owned by the Government with a view to creating stronger banks and develop financial institutions. In this regard, the Government, as a shareholder, is supporting the merger of the National Bank and the Kenya Commercial Bank that will result in creation of one of the strongest Banks in East Africa. In addition, the merger of the Tourism Finance Corporation, IDB Capital and the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation (ICDC) to form the Kenya Development Bank (KDB) with the right capacity to support the industrial growth of the country by providing long-term development financing. You will recall that His Excellency the President appointed a taskforce in November 2018 to review our sugar industry with a view to addressing the challenges in the sector. The Government will implement the recommendations from the taskforce. In the meantime, it will pay all outstanding debts owned by sugarcane farmers. Hon. Speaker, university reforms are critical at this stage. We shall review all the universities’ public financial and management systems, appraise ongoing projects with a view to restructuring them, and implement radical measures that will include merger or closure of some universities and university campuses that are not able to sustain their operations against the number of students admitted or degree courses offered. In conclusion, the Government, under the leadership of His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta, has steered our economy to become the largest and most diverse in the region. We should be proud of this and be ready to guard and further promote our growth and development. The Budget I have presented today has undergone a vigorous preparation process in which we had to make tough decisions in the quest to move our country forward. Faced with limited resources, we have had to make tough choices to cut low priority expenditures. I firmly believe that if we all embrace and support the measures spelt out in this Budget, we shall create more jobs and transform the lives of Kenyans. This Budget takes into account the socio- economic status of our people and their desire for better livelihoods and quality of their lives. Mr. Speaker, in summary, this Budget responds to the concerns of Kenyans which include high cost of living, unemployment, poverty and income inequality; lays a firm foundation for economic transformation and renewal; aligns resource allocation to the “Big Four” Plan while sustaining allocations to critical infrastructure as well as pro-poor spending in health, education, and social safety net programmes; and provides support to the youth and growth of SMEs. The actualisation of our development goals in the past has largely been driven by the Kenyan spirit of peace, hard work, unity of purpose and national cohesion. These values remain critical for our growth and development. I, therefore, urge all Kenyans to nurture and promote peace and unity of purpose as fundamentals in building the Kenya we want – a prosperous and peaceful nation in which we all aspire to live. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}