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{
    "id": 111449,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/111449/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 404,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Moyale, they think they are just people from the bush. They do not imagine that they are Kenyans. So, regional governments will give people in the marginalized areas an identity. It will give the people from the coastal region a reason to feel that they are Kenyans and not people from just along the coastal region. Right now, they still feel that they are just a protectorate because their issues are not addressed. If there was a regional assembly at the Coast, the coconut and the cashew nuts factories would have been revived by now. But policies are drawn in a Central Government in Nairobi by civil servants who do not know where those regions are. But a regional assembly will be able to come to the Central Government and push the agenda of those regions. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, if you look at the issue of food in this country, you will realize that people from the ASAL areas wait for food to be imported from America when we know very well that countries like Israel, Egypt and Emirates, which are practically deserts, are food sufficient. Why are we buying rice from Egypt? Why do we import grapes and apples from Israel? It is because they know the challenges facing them, namely, desert conditions, and so they draw their own policies and see how to utilize the water that they have. But here in Kenya, during the rainy season, all the water from North Eastern drains into the Indian Ocean. All the water from Cherangany Hills travels through the Kerio Valley into Lake Turkana without being utilized by the Pokots, the Marakwets and even the Turkanas who live in that region. At the end of the day, we wait for somebody in Nairobi, especially the media to raise an alarm that people are hungry. If there are regional governments, they will notice early enough that there is a shortage of food and see how they can utilize the resources within the region. They can drill dams. Right now, policies that are drawn in Nairobi are not helping the marginalized in this country. It is for that reason that I support regional governments. I hope that people will support us, from the marginalized areas, so that we can feed ourselves. We are not happy begging for food all the time. Another issue is to do with the educational institutions that we have in this country. They are centralized in one region, which is also arable. Regional assemblies will be able to decide the cut off points for secondary school admission for the children in their regions. They will come up with programmes that are acceptable to the children in that region. When questions are asked about the railway line or electricity in schools, how will a child in my constituency or in North Horr, who has never seen electricity, pass that examination? Children from the marginalized areas sit for the same examination with children from Nairobi. How fair is that? I support the Equalization Fund. But for it to be effective, we need to have regional assemblies to monitor it. It should be utilized well to make sure that the less developed areas are at par with developed areas. There is the issue of a Land Commission or regulation of land, especially Article 68C(1) which talks of a land legislation to prescribe a minimum and maximum land holding acreages in respect of private land. Kenya is made up of over 42 tribes. Others are being discovered by the day. Each community has got something that they hold dear or has a different perception of what they mean by wealth. For others, like those of us who are now in Nairobi, owning an estate or building with many storeys is wealth. But there is somebody who believes that if I have ten acres of land, I am rich. A pastoralist would wish to have 1,000 acres because in his perception, the cows are his wealth roaming in the wild. This is disadvantageous to people in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) and pastoralists of North Eastern, Central Rift and many others who are"
}