{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=370","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=368","results":[{"id":3681,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/3681/?format=json","text_counter":526,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Mr. Namwamba","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":108,"legal_name":"Ababu Tawfiq Pius Namwamba","slug":"ababu-namwamba"},"content":"Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, this Bill is long overdue. Again, I do believe that by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance bringing this Bill, it is part of the very drastic reforms we have witnessed at the Treasury in the recent past. One, of course, is aware that for an economy to grow and remain stable, you need confidence; confidence of not only the biggest investor who may want to put his or her money in the economy, but also the smallest investor or the smallest player in the whole economic matrix who wants to be confident that if he or she puts his or her Kshs100 in any financial institution, that money is safe. Because of the vagaries of the unknown, should anything happen, then I have comfort that my investment or my savings have a certain level of security assured in law. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I also support this Bill, appreciating and recognizing the serious challenges this country has experienced in the past where financial institutions ran into strong head winds and some even went under. Those who had put their hard earned money in these institutions were left high and dry. So, I want to thank the Minister and I hope that when this Bill is enacted and actualized by this House, it will go a long way in helping to make the entire financial sector in this country better, more secure and will engender confidence in anybody who wants to put their money in circulation in this economy. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, with those remarks, I support."},{"id":3682,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/3682/?format=json","text_counter":527,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Mr. M’Mithiaru","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":72,"legal_name":"Ntoitha M'mithiaru","slug":"ntoitha-mmithiaru"},"content":"Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I also stand up to support the Kenya Deposit Insurance Bill. As I speak, I am one person also who has great experience in the finance industry. Therefore, I know the importance of having such a Bill. It can only just be reflected that such a deposit insurance fund will assist our banking system in ensuring stability and enhancing the confidence that the depositors have in their banking institutions and other financial institutions. It may be recalled that before the current Deposit Protection Fund which currently is a department of the Central Bank of Kenya was established, if there was any management or receivership in a bank, it was domiciled at the office of the Attorney- General. That took a very long time. Sometimes the people handling it did not really know the intricacies of handling financial institutions. With the emergence of the Deposit Protection Fund at the Central Bank of Kenya, I think things have changed. We know as of now, any person depositing money in a bank or financial institution and, for some reason it goes under, that person can get a maximum of Kshs100,000. That maximum was fixed in 1989 or 1987. I remember that time I used to be in the banking industry. It was that long time ago. Up to now, there has been no revision at all. I also do hope that now with the new Bill, it will actually give more incentives to depositors. If there is any refund for banks or financial institutions that may have gone under, then, at least, there must be some kind of a percentage of the deposit that one has in the banking institution rather than the fixed amount that we are seeing today whereby if I have Kshs20 million in my account and the bank goes under, I will get Kshs100,000. If somebody else had Kshs100,000 in their account, that person will get 100 per cent. So, I am sure within this law, the Minister can be empowered through the regulations to ensure that there are some revisions of such amount from time to time, taking into account also the level of our economy. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the good thing about this one also is that this Bill proposes that the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation will be autonomous. It will now no longer be a department of the Central Bank of Kenya. It will be a body corporate on its own and it will also now manage that insurance fund. That way, it will also relieve the CBK so that the CBK will concentrate on its core mandate of the monetary policy of the land and also the general supervision of the banking industry. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, as I support this Bill, there are also issues I would like to raise within our banking system. You will find that in our banking system they compete more on who will post huge amounts of profits at the end of the financial year, rather than competing for quality service. That is why you find that even today the banks are posting huge profits, but when you go just for a very small service you are charged a lot of money. For example, even to get a mere statement just printed over the counter some banks will charge as much as Kshs200. Yet, at the end of the year, they are posting huge amounts of money. So, we would also wish that our banking institutions should be partners in development to ensure that they do not really unnecessarily exploit their customers when it comes to offering services. Currently, the CBK has raised the CBK lending rate to 16.5 per cent. The banks have also adjusted their base rates accordingly to 20 plus. The lending rates n some banks have now hit 30 per cent. If you follow those banks, you find that in their third quota profits they are again to post huge profits and yet, they are still exploiting the customers. I would also urge the banks to ensure that they really become partners in development, so that they do not exploit the same customers that they serve. If banks charge very high interest rates, then you find that most of the customers may not afford and then the default rate will increase. Now as it were, the bank which had the intention to get huge profits may even end up getting losses. When banks get losses year in, year out, then now it becomes a candidate of the deposit insurance fund. So, we hope that the banks will be reasonable enough to ensure that they treat their customers well by charging something reasonable, but not the high rates that we are seeing today. With those remarks, I support."},{"id":3683,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/3683/?format=json","text_counter":528,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Mr. Abdikadir","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":1,"legal_name":"Abdikadir Hussein Mohamed","slug":"abdikadir-mohammed"},"content":"Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I will be very brief. Let me also join my colleagues in congratulating the Ministry for the work they have done on the financial infrastructure and for modernizing that infrastructure. This, indeed, is a major step in that modernization effort, especially with respect to insurance, the insurance industry and the regulation in the insurance industry which for a long time has been in the doldrums as indicated by the failures that insurance companies had before. Indeed, it was the order of the day that insurance companies as a rule will ask their customers to carry stickers that say, “Do not accept liability”. In many places it is illegal to even deny liability before liability has occurred. The whole idea of insuring is to ensure that you get indemnified upon an accident occurring. So, the need for modernization of this industry certainly cannot be gainsaid. In terms of streamlining liquidation and insolvency in the insurance industry and indeed in the financial industry, if you look at the banking industry, some of the institutions that were liquidated, 30 years ago, the liquidation processes are still going on. The Deposit Protection Fund at the CBK essentially has become a provider for jobs for those people when you are supposed to have liquidated and wound up, so that you move forward with the process. So, it is important that we modernize the liquidation and winding up process and professionalize it and ensure that the moral hazard of retaining that process for as long as possible so that people can earn salaries and so that you maintain large bureaucracies is not handled. Finally, when it comes to regulations and regulators, usually this House makes laws, giving powers to institutions, so that they can create rules and regulations within those institutions. However, most times, those rules and regulations are overstepped, so that the institutions essentially become mini-legislatures where they create rules whether prudential or otherwise, that mostly are meant for good, but are sometimes overstepped. One of the issues, whether it is in the insurance industry or the banking industry, is the issue about independent directors. Whether a shareholder can be an independent director and why the traditional definition is that an independent director is one who is independent of management. These institutions have now decided to come up with the rule that an independent director is somebody who has absolutely nothing to do with the institution who has no shareholding, which really encroaches on the rights of shareholders if they are not in management. Therefore, we will, indeed, propose amendments to those particular rule-making processes, so that those rules are brought to this House and Parliament can look into them. Having said that, this is really a major step forward, I congratulate the Ministry and I support."},{"id":3684,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/3684/?format=json","text_counter":529,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Dr. Laboso","speaker_title":"The Temporary Deputy Speaker","speaker":{"id":63,"legal_name":"Joyce Cherono Laboso","slug":"joyce-laboso"},"content":" I now call upon the Minister to respond as there seems to be no more interest."},{"id":3685,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/3685/?format=json","text_counter":530,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Mr. Kenyatta","speaker_title":"The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance","speaker":{"id":168,"legal_name":"Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta","slug":"uhuru-kenyatta"},"content":" Thank you Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, and at this early opportunity let me thank all Members for their contributions. Those contributions, indeed, are useful. The objective of this Bill, as I have stated, is to further strengthen the financial sector and ensure that we reduce and minimize risk for all depositors in this country, especially the small depositors as has been stated. This is a process of reform of our financial services and sector that we have started and we intend to continue until we ensure that this country becomes a financial services hub as has been mentioned by Mr. Namwamba, not just in the region but also in the continent of Africa. There are a lot of good suggestions that have been mentioned and, indeed, before we come to the Committee Stage, we will have a good opportunity, especially with the Finance, Planning and Trade Committee to go through and be able to incorporate some of the positive contributions that have been made so that by the time we come to the Committee Stage, we do have a fully comprehensive, inclusive Bill that will ensure that we perform the function and duties and responsibilities that we intend to take with regard to this particular Bill. With those few remarks, I beg to move."},{"id":3686,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/3686/?format=json","text_counter":531,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Question put and agreed to)"},{"id":3687,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/3687/?format=json","text_counter":532,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(The Bill was read a Second Time and committed to a Committee of the whole House tomorrow)"},{"id":3688,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/3688/?format=json","text_counter":533,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Dr. Laboso","speaker_title":"The Temporary deputy Speaker","speaker":{"id":63,"legal_name":"Joyce Cherono Laboso","slug":"joyce-laboso"},"content":" Next order!"},{"id":3689,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/3689/?format=json","text_counter":534,"type":"heading","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"THE RATIFICATION OF TREATIES BILL"},{"id":3690,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/3690/?format=json","text_counter":535,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Mrs. Odhiambo-Mabona on 29.11.2011)"}]}