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{
    "id": 774076,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/774076/?format=api",
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    "content": "situation where the upper and lower riparian communities are fighting; that a lot of the water has been used to irrigate upstream and the people downstream are not getting enough for livestock or irrigation; that coordination is necessary. The investment also must take into consideration the advantages and disadvantages of damming a particular are vis-à-vis the use of that water across many parts of our country. The Turkwel situation is very interesting. When it rains you have a lot of water in Turkwel that is just wasted. If you were to irrigate, you would irrigate thousands of hectares in parts of Kerio Valley which is both Pokot and Turkana. We have just been debating about this issue of insecurity – in fact, there is a project that has been proposed in Kimwarer which will create irrigation for the upper part of the Kerio Valley up to parts of Baringo. Another one is proposed in Aror, and it is about to start soon, that will irrigate both Marakwet up to Tiaty Constituency which can easily sort out this problem we have been debating here about people stealing livestock. If you irrigate along the Kerio Valley, you will find that even the routes and the paths that cattle rustlers would have used to cross to steal livestock will now not be there because it will be full of crops. You will find that because of the availability of water, there is no need for persons to continue herding very emaciated livestock whose economic advantage is very little. It will be easily so in parts of Marakwet, for example, that people will move to zero grazing and other issues. So, that irrigation is important. That monitoring and evaluation of irrigation is also important. The Ministry is also supposed to develop general principles and guidelines for promoting development for coordination of irrigation planning among counties. This is so that if you have an irrigation - it can only make sense if you have an irrigation that will take care of not just one county but many - it will foster unity and development across counties and as I said, lead to amicable settling. Part 6 (2) e says: (d) Promoting use of efficient irrigation systems across the country. (e) Subject to resource constraints, ensure availability and adequacy of water for irrigation and so forth. All these issues are the guiding principles that are supposed to guide the Ministry that is responsible for matters irrigation, the National Irrigation Development Authority and the Council of Governors when they are making decisions on matters of irrigation and the respective counties. Sometimes people ask why we should have discussions at the national level on matters of irrigation and not leave it to counties. Let us not forget that our responsibility at the national level and that of this House is to set the National Policy Framework that will guide all matters, not just irrigation but everything whether it is environment, water and livestock. That is really our responsibility as a House. Madam Temporary Speaker, there is something that is emerging across the country; that the Senate has not yet taken its rightful place in ensuring that in all sectors that are devolved like agriculture, irrigation and matters of roads, we have not done enough work to ensure that there is a proper policy framework that will guide relationships between national and county governments and counties among themselves that are efficient, in order to avoid duplication and wastage of resources. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}