Eng. Ephraim Mwangi Maina

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 1581 to 1590 of 1598.

• 9 Jul 2008 in National Assembly: Is it in order for the Assistant Minister to say that the people of Kirigo have refused to surrender that land when the Water Act gives the Ministry the power to acquire that land? view
• 26 Jun 2008 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Chairman, Sir, my name is Ephraim Maina, the Member of Parliament for Mathira Constituency. I thank you for giving me the chance to contribute to this Motion on the tax proposals. First and foremost, I would like to commend the Minister for coming up with such a detailed document on the tax measures that he will use to raise funds for financing the Budget. There are a few issues here and there, which I would like to comment on. As we see, the tax proposals are for restoring and expanding economic opportunities. Starting off with what the ... view
• 18 Jun 2008 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, first, I want to register my disappointment that I have just received the written answer to this Question as I was walking in. Nevertheless, owing to the urgency and the importance of the tea sector in this country, I wish to proceed with the Question. I beg to ask the Minister for Agriculture the following Question by Private Notice. (a) Is the Minister aware of the imminent collapse of the tea industry in Kenya due to uneconomic returns to farmers from tea growing areas? (b) What urgent measures is the Minister taking to save the industry and, ... view
• 18 Jun 2008 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I find this to be extraordinarily peculiar and irresponsible for the Assistant Minister to say that he does not have a written answer. view
• 18 Jun 2008 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to ask the Minister for Agriculture the following Question by Private Notice. (a) Is the Minister aware of the imminent collapse of the tea industry in Kenya due to uneconomic returns to farmers from tea growing areas? (b) What urgent measures is the Minister taking to save the industry and, in particular, to increase the prices being paid to farmers? (c) What measures is the Minister taking to restore legal avenues for Government intervention following the privatisation of the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA)? view
• 18 Jun 2008 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Question as answered just generally talks of good intentions, but does not really address the issue. Here is an industry on which millions of Kenyans thrive and it also earns a lot of foreign exchange for this country. If the Assistant Minister talks of his future plans, then he should be sure of a real collapse of this industry because farmers are already uprooting their tea bushes. Could he inform the House what urgent measures he is taking to ensure that he reverses the trend of paying peanuts to tea farmers at Kshs11 per kilogramme? view
• 18 Jun 2008 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I can only say that the Question is more than answered satisfactorily. I want to conclude by saying that I sympathise with my friend the Assistant Minister. But, nevertheless, farmers and Kenyans are suffering. I have not been answered as to when the price of tea is expected to improve; when fertilizer will be available to farmers and when the animal called Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), which is "eating" into the farmers' survival, is going to be controlled by the Government. view
• 18 Jun 2008 in National Assembly: Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I wish to contribute to the Motion on the Budget. Let me say that listening to the Minister reading the Budget Speech, there was a surprising statement which he kept making: " I hope by reducing this and this tax, so and so will turn to the benefit of the Kenyan people". I want to say that I was quite disappointed with that kind of approach. What Kenyans want to hear is a Budget that is addressing issues. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, today, we have some human beings who live in the ... view
• 18 Jun 2008 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is the issue of raising the capital requirement for operating banks. Let me ask this question and I want Kenyans to hear me: Are we really serious that we want to return the resources and destiny of this country into the hands of the Kenyans? Why am I asking this question? The Minister for Finance says that today he will be raising the capital requirement for a bank licence to Kshs1 billion. We are all aware of the levels of poverty our people are in this country because of the poor economy. Then why ... view
• 18 Jun 2008 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Kenya has a few banks that are today not contributing to agriculture. In the 1960s, in this country every bank followed a certain Government regulation. They had to lend a certain percentage of money to the agriculture sector. The four main banks, as we know them today, can still do the same. They have even said that they will be lending money to corporates. Who will develop the agriculture sector in this country in order to solve the food problem? That can only be done if we get Africans running these institutions. Mr. Temporary Deputy ... view