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{
    "id": 914958,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/914958/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 193,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Molo, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kuria Kimani",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13435,
        "legal_name": "Francis Kuria Kimani",
        "slug": "francis-kuria-kimani"
    },
    "content": "I am waiting for the Finance Bill to come and see how the Government is lending in terms of external lending as opposed to internal borrowing. The banks have realised that they do not need to work hard. They can just buy Treasury Bills and Treasury Bonds from the Government at high rates. You realise the risk in the Treasury Bills and bonds is zero; that is, they are risk-free. Therefore, instead of going to that SME young person or that person who has an idea for business financing and wants to borrow from them, because the risk is higher, they end up only lending to Government through Treasury Bills and Treasury Bonds. Most importantly, commercial banks in this country need to get patriotic. They should not just do business to make money, but spur economic growth. There is no sense for banks to just lend to people who have payslips or security and miss out on people who have great and brilliant ideas that could be funded and spur development, and increase employment of young people. It is said that if you do business to make money, you may not succeed as much as when you do business and make money. This is my appeal to our banks. Let us not just do business to make money. Let us do business and make money. If you do business not just to make money but because you have the right intentions for our people, you will not find these applications competing with you. It is very unfortunate that some banks, as a way of bypassing some of the regulations that we have passed in this House, have created their own mobile bank loan applications so that instead of the bank lending through the normal lending products that we know, they incorporate a different company and call it an app modelled as Tala, Branch or Fuliza, and lend to the public. For example, Mshwari is a product of Safaricom and the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA). So, we have a bank that is out there lending money at 180 per cent per annum, which is contrary to laws that have been passed in this House. If you want to go after them, you cannot because they are not directly lending, but they are lending through other people. That said and done, it is very unfortunate that our young people, women and businesspeople have been auctioned not because they took that money to benefit themselves through business, but because they innocently signed a form. You know bank loan forms come with terms and conditions covering several pages in small print. Obviously, you cannot read them. In fact, sometimes, when you sign a loan application form, you are not told what the terms and conditions are. They tell you that the terms and conditions are available on their website. So, you just tick there to show that you have verified and you agree with the terms and conditions that are not even attached to the form that you are signing. By appending that simple signature, we have people who have lost their lives and a lot of money. This amendment cannot be more-timely than now. I hope these regulations will tell our banks that it is high time they woke up and realised that Kenyans have become wiser, and that there is a better way of doing business. They can actually do good business for our country and still make money for themselves for the betterment of our economy and for a better tomorrow of our children. With those remarks, I support."
}