26 Apr 2023 in National Assembly:
Hon. Speaker, I was going to come to that. Can I make a commitment that we will relay this particular concern to the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development so that we can get a very accurate position on the aspect of compensation in Dongo Kundu? I agree that when we talk about production, we also need to support the farmer, and not just with fertiliser. I have said that there will be fertiliser for planting and top-dressing. The issue of seeds is a vital point. I can only commit that in the package to the farmers, the Government ...
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26 Apr 2023 in National Assembly:
Thank you Hon. Speaker. Let me talk a little bit on the issue of energy because a number of Members have raised concerns on the cost of energy. In my statement, I said one of the things we are pushing is to open up the energy sector for more players to come in. So, we move away from having a club of a few players in this sector. I gave an example of the Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) gas where we have more players coming in. I know the Government also set up a committee to look into the various ...
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26 Apr 2023 in National Assembly:
It is important to also know that we are diversifying as a nation by encouraging more investment in the geothermal sector so that we stop relying on rains. We need to rely less on hydro which takes very long to develop. We are increasing our capacity and potential in energy through a lot of investment in the geothermal, solar and wind areas. We hope that in the not- too-distant future, all these investments will come to bear and help reduce the cost of doing business in this country. This includes the cost of electricity which is critical in production in ...
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26 Apr 2023 in National Assembly:
Hon. Speaker, allow me to highlight the following. If you look at, say, maize importation - it is actually on the table appearing in the written Statement that I have given - you will notice that in 2023, we may have about 2.4 million bags of maize, about 3.6 million bags of wheat, and about 4.8 million bags of rice coming in. Cumulatively, we are talking about 10.9 or 11 million bags of cereals that are coming in as staple food. We also project to import The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified ...
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26 Apr 2023 in National Assembly:
close to 240 million bags of beans this year. This is a cycle and it is very important that when we engage in the import programme, we look at timely delivery of whatever is required; it should not coincide with the local harvest. On targeted distribution, we rely on a lot of good data from the Ministry of Arid and Semi-Arid Lands and the Ministry of Agriculture. They are able to map out very clearly which other areas are most needy. They have been doing well on this one. People who require food have been supported. In fact, over four ...
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26 Apr 2023 in National Assembly:
On a light not, I think it is important to say that when I served as Minister for Finance in 1992, one of the things that we had to do to trigger the economy and get it going again was to remove price controls. At that time, we were removing price controls in a very highly inflationary period and a very well-seasoned politician and elder of this country, the late Mzee Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, referred to my policies as ‘ill-advised’ policies. That was not a simple person speaking, but he said it was an ‘ill-advised’ policy. It was a kind ...
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26 Apr 2023 in National Assembly:
Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Sorry, Mheshimiwa . Let me try and deal with that. You have a point. Whatever we do, we must be accountable. One of the things we want to pursue as Government… We normally talk about ‘whole of Government’ approach, but we also want to talk about ‘open government’ approach. In the open government approach, we want to make sure that the framework that we enter into shall be open. In my statement, I have said that there are agreements that have been signed and I have even given examples of those agreements. I am confident that ...
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26 Apr 2023 in National Assembly:
Thank you Hon. Speaker. I wish to respond as follows: First of all, let me state that this is a programme that is domiciled within the Ministry of East African Community and the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). They have been doing a good job. But for purposes of record, I would just wish to highlight the following statistics. One, the current drought is ravaging many parts of the country and it has affected approximately 4.4 million people in the ASALs, and a further 500,000 people in nine non- traditional ASAL regions. In my statement, I have tabulated the counties ...
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26 Apr 2023 in National Assembly:
food assistance, livestock feeds, and trucking of water facilities. Indeed, we need to acknowledge and commend the county governments for their role in battling the drought situation. Hon. Speaker, we also estimate that development partners, the United Nation agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations, and other non-state actors have also plugged in approximately Ksh48 billion to support drought relief across the counties that have been affected. Again, Hon. Speaker, I will table the details rather than belabour the point to the House by reading one after the other. There is also the private sector-led National Steering Committee on Drought Response. This particular committee ...
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26 Apr 2023 in National Assembly:
Hon. Speaker, let me pick up the issue of what we should do so that we do not rely on rain-fed agriculture. One of the key plans of the Kenya Kwanza Government is to intensify investment in dams, pans and water harvesting. I will give an example of Kwale County. The President, and I was there, launched Mwache Dam a few weeks ago. It is an investment which is supported by the World Bank and the Kenya Government. It will cost about Ksh18 billion in total. It will provide a lot of support and relief in sections of the Coast. ...
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