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{
    "id": 1093913,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1093913/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 42,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Zani",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13119,
        "legal_name": "Agnes Zani",
        "slug": "agnes-zani"
    },
    "content": "sometimes there are repercussions. For example, if it is trees being cut, they will miss out on firewood and their environment will be depleted. Mr. Speaker, Sir, one of the things that are emphasized is a way to establish all these resources and reset the setup. We have to find a way to rehabilitate these specific communities. So, right from the beginning, apart from the national organization which would have done that, we have other organizations and other specific structures. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to touch on the County Benefit Sharing Committee and it membership. It has the County Executive Committee (CEC) Member, the chairperson of a specific county assembly, two technical officers and five persons who have had a lot of experience in terms of community and how the resources are used. I say this carefully because there has been the bottom-up debate going on. This Committee has five members who are at the community level so that they can have a say. We know that there can be a lot of influence from administrators and high level county officials and all these people. So, the five members should have power to determine. They are the ones who will say whether a particular resource is exploited and the amount of money that will come as a result of this resource. If it goes to the loyalty fund that is established in the Bill at the financial provision at Clause 14, it should cascade. Therefore, they should have a say and know how much money has gone from this particular resources. This Bill is inspired from Rwanda in the idea of Kwita Izina which is a concept where tourists come to see gorillas in the forest, they collect revenue and as a result, they build roads, hospitals and specific development projects targeting specific members of the community for a specific natural resource. When communities realize that they will gain because of their trees, water or minerals, they feel attached and try as much as possible to do the best they can. In fact, they become defensive of that natural resources and they protect it over time. So, for Kwita Izina, the community names the gorillas in an international event and from that, people give various funds. They pay for naming gorillas and the money goes to a specific thing. That is why, it is important to have Committees to negotiate this effectively. We felt that it is not important to have that at the county level but at the specific local community. In a few minutes, I will go into the proposal of how the funds should be divided within the various counties which is important. What is key is that the local communities can trace these funds and know that they are not part of the funds coming from the counties, equitable share, conditional grant or any other money. It is part of the money that they have generated. This is important especially when we talk about Own Source Revenue (OSR). This would be one of the ways for communities to catapult themselves and make adequate contribution. Mr. Speaker, Sir, before we publish this Bill, it was first initiated in 2013. Sen. Wamatangi is here. From the teams of Senators who were there at that time, we had a Committee of about nine Members and we went around the various counties to come up with this. Of course, we had various versions of it from that time. Sen. Wamatangi will soon be seconding this Bill as a Member who was also the vice chairperson."
}