Dr. Oburu Odinga

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 901 to 910 of 1650.

• 25 May 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker Sir, if I understood the Member well, he asked what the Government has done to make it easier for investors to invest in the country. I said that we have reduced the number of licensing procedures which had made it cumbersome for an investor. For example, it takes a minimum of about three months for an investor who comes to Kenya to start investing. We want to reduce this period by reducing the bureaucracy involved in doing this. I said that there are also other factors like the political risk factors which we also want to ... view
• 25 May 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have not been maintaining a register as such. However, according to that law, since 1965, the investors have been allowed to repatriate profits. One of the major components of that law was to allow investors to repatriate their profits and not necessarily to invest in Kenya against their will. However, I am sorry that we have not kept that register. view
• 25 May 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I stated it clearly because this particular Question is about the comparison of Kenya with the three other East African countries. While I agree with the hon. Member that a number of companies have not just closed down business, but some of them have relocated to our neighbouring countries due to various reasons. We have also had several other companies coming into the country. view
• 25 May 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not know which factories have closed business because of cheap imports from China, but, generally, speaking, the policy is that we are in a free market economy. We encourage our firms to compete with foreign companies and improve on their efficiencies; they can compete effectively. If there is any company which has closed business because of cheap imports from China, that fact has to be brought to our attention so that we look into it specifically and see if there are measures we can take to protect such a firm. view
• 25 May 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I said before, Kenya takes the investment climate very seriously. There are certain factors which are not controlled by us. These are factors like the political risk and our neighbourhood, which also inhibits the inflow of foreign investment into our country. However, on those factors which are within our control, we are trying to improve the investment climate by entering into various agreements with foreign countries. We have already negotiated investment protection agreements with several countries. We continue to look for more to give them more comfort in investing in this country. We are ... view
• 19 May 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. (a) The position of Controller and Auditor-General as referred to in hon. Ogindo’s Question does not exist under the Constitution. Article 229(4), referred to by the hon. Ogindo on the functions of the Auditor-General states as follows:- “Within six months after the end of each financial year, the Auditor-General shall audit and report, in respect of that financial year.” The departments that are supposed to be audited are listed as follows:- (i) The accounts of the national and country governments; (ii) The accounts of all funds and authorities of the national and ... view
• 19 May 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the financial year ended in June last year. The Constitution was enacted on 27th of August, 2010, after the financial year had ended. The Controller and Auditor-General, as I have stated here in my answer, is going to comply. As soon as we end this June, we are going to strictly comply and six months thereafter, the Controller and Auditor-General will--- view
• 19 May 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, maybe, I can conclude my answer and then he can raise his point of order. Our understanding is that the Constitution was not applying retrospectively. It is applying from the date it was promulgated. view
• 19 May 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we were to count six months, are we going to count them from the time the Constitution was enacted or from the time the financial year ended? The financial year ended on 30th June and the Constitution was promulgated in August. Now, do we count six months from August or from June? Our understanding was that because of this confusion, we are going to comply. In any case, the accounts for 2009 and 2010 have already been tabled in the House. view
• 19 May 2011 in National Assembly: Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I did not really get the point the Member is making because the Constitution was promulgated in August last year and we are now in May. We are just about to reach the first financial year since the Constitution was promulgated. Now, from June this year, six months thereafter, we shall have to comply. In any case, the 2009/2010 accounts are already with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). view