Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1096458,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1096458/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 304,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Matayos, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Geoffrey Odanga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2286,
        "legal_name": "Geoffrey Makokha Odanga",
        "slug": "geoffrey-makokha-odanga"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I also want to add my voice to the support of the National Irrigation (Amendment) Bill, which should have even come much earlier. With irrigation, we can turn around our country. The fact that God created us means that we can also create our country and make it what we would like it to be. Kenya is lucky to have been endowed with resources. The larger percentage of the country has water. It is only a small percentage that does not have enough water to take care of the lives of people, animals and even crops. The case of Israel has already been mentioned here several times. It is a country that receives very little rainfall in a year, but it is able to feed its population and even export. They have no issues with food security. If everything was taken seriously in this country to the level that we were in the first Government, I am very sure Kenyans would be very much ahead. With food security, people are able to embark on development. If there were dams, large and small, both are important. Large dams will be needed as long as everything is done with integrity, as long as corruption is avoided. The problem with this country is that we come up with huge and gigantic projects, not for purposes of benefitting the people, but for purposes of some people having seen some market somewhere where they are going to make benefits by selling or buying, or that kind of thing. If we put water pans on our rivers, one, we will be making huge harvests on our farms. At the same time, we will avoid the floods that we see. Water is supposed to be a blessing. But again, because of the way we have managed our issues, we have put our priorities upside down. Water at times becomes a curse in this country, something that must be avoided. Therefore, huge investments are required in irrigation, so that we are able to harvest the water that get wasted, kill and displace people on River Nzoia, River Nyando and River Yala. That will be avoided, so that that water could be put to better use. Even as we do that, we also need to have good strategies in marketing in cases of good harvests, like it is done in other countries, so that farmers are not producing and have nowhere to sell their produce. This is something that the Government needs to really put in place. We have the National Irrigation Authority, formerly the National Irrigation Board. This is a board that had a lot of good projects. Where I come from in Busia County and the neighbouring counties, some investment was done. It is almost 10 years ago. The huge and many pipes that were meant for irrigation from River Nzoia and River Sio are still lying on the ground simply because the management changed. The Government had already put in a lot of investment. These pipes The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}