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{
    "id": 933560,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/933560/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 350,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Farhiya",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13179,
        "legal_name": "Farhiya Ali Haji",
        "slug": "farhiya-ali-haji"
    },
    "content": "Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Part of the conflict that is there is created by the fight for resources. Madam Temporary Speaker, there is no democracy in some of the countries in this region, other than Rwanda and Kenya, of course, which has a big economy. There is a bit of a gap in the way we can move from being a poor country to a very sustainable economy. Unfortunately, sometimes most of our leaders are not able to connect, even though some of them are trying. If you compare importing finished goods to exporting raw materials, the prices are quadruple. When you have an industry in the country that is adding value to the finished goods, you create employment. Once you create employment, there is money circulating in the economy. That makes a difference for everyone who is involved. Madam Temporary Speaker, we should take advantage of the resources we have right now. Given the way innovation is going ahead in the world, very soon we will have airplanes and cars driven by rechargeable batteries. As a result, oil, which has become black diamond in Africa, will be rendered useless, because no one will use it anymore. Before we reach there, as a country within the Great Lakes Region, we need to make sure that money is not pilfered, so that the resources we have are used to ensure that we develop our economy. During the time when Mwai Kibaki was the President, we had a team of experts called the ‘Dream Team’, who were the drivers of economic growth. They were guiding the President accordingly to ensure that the country grew in tandem. I think that Kenya grew during that time in terms of revenue and other things. Madam Temporary Speaker, we might need to bring that back, even if it means--- I am sure that there are very many Kenyan economists who would want to give their advice for free or at a small charge, because they care about this country. They can take the agenda of this country to the next level. The other day, I was reading a report that said that there is about Ksh6 trillion worth of Kenyan resources that is locked in international bank accounts. Could this be part of the problem that we have? The money we owe internationally is also Kshs6 trillion. I tried to link the two in my head and I wondered whether this is the because of the problem we have. Madam Temporary Speaker, unless we address the problem of corruption that is systemic in all the economies of the Great Lakes Region, we will not move to the next level. It is high time that we told each other the truth in terms of how we can safeguard our resources, so that the money we get is directed for service delivery to our people. Look at it this way, there are a lot of people who have moved out of poverty and are at middle class level. However, if one person in their family got a chronic illness, this can take the whole family back to poverty and living below the poverty line. We need to fix the problem in our health system. Look at the amount of resources Kenyans are spending to go to India to be treated for cancer and other ailments. If we were able to save that kind of money within our borders, we would then be talking about being at a different level. Look at the world in terms of climate change and I am glad that part of the discussion was about climate change. In another report I was reading, it said that we have 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."
}