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{
    "id": 1075655,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1075655/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 251,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Ochillo-Ayacko",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "When you are in Taita Taveta or Maasai Mara or in some other place and you find an ordinary Maasai, Taita, Taveta, Samburu where we have all these game reserves, their lives never improve. In fact, their lives continue suffering and then we put in legislation that for us to pretend that we are keeping wildlife, their lives do not matter and that, these elephants, wild animals must continue killing them. I also read the Bible and the Koran. I have never seen anywhere where it is decreed that you cannot kill an animal which is trying to kill you. If you kill this, you are jailed. If you are seeking compensation for having a relative killed or property destroyed by it, you do not get it. If you are asking to be a partner in the profit industry that makes you keep it, then you are not part of it. Where are you supposed to go? Recently, I was watching a movie by the Maasais saying that, ‘if a lion kills their cow, they will kill it’. If there is no compensation for this, the Maasais are right, they will kill these animals and you will do nothing, not even get a witness. When the State and the society become oppressive, people go underground. They will not tell you who killed the lion or the rhino. They will think that those things do not belong to them. If we want to be responsible, let us first be responsible for the lives of our people, particularly the vulnerable ones who are poor and few. We must do that by looking at the value of life. Let us not think that the life of a poor person has no value. In fact, if we look at where we started, who had anything? We were given opportunity by those who were protective of us and we must provide the same opportunity to all Kenyans by adequately compensating those who are disadvantaged by our desire for profit and pretending that we are conserving the environment. Let us conserve Kenyans first. In fact, there is no environment to conserve if you cannot conserve Kenyans. When it comes to counties like Taita Taveta, Makueni and my own county of Migori, we have certain animals that kill people. If you are found with the skin or a hide of a python, which is not listed here and is not poisonous, you are arrested. However, I can assure you that it is extremely dangerous to everybody; adults and children alike, to disabled people and women. Nonetheless, it is not listed here. There is a concept in law that if you are keeping anything fierce or capable of visiting destruction of people, then you keep it at your cost and expense. This nation must take responsibility for keeping fierce things that damage life and crops. This Bill is a good step towards bringing that. I encourage Sen. Mwaruma to be bold. Madam Temporary Speaker, there is an attempt to claim that this is a Money Bill or some people may claim that. I do not think we should give a damn about that. Money or death? This is something that is going to correct something that is about death, life and coexistence. We cannot dance around the corpses and poverty of people. When we count our population we include them, but when we share our resources, we exclude them. Those people can be us; those who may not be suffering such atrocities like citizens from those parts of Kenya. It is a shame to still have in legislation the fact that an animal has a right to kill you and that you have no right to be compensated."
}