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{
    "id": 1186559,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1186559/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 365,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Endebess, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Robert Pukose",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I also thank my neighbour, Hon. Ferdinand Wanyonyi, also known as Magufuli, for this important Motion. From the outset, this Motion was informed by several factors. First, when you travel to places such as Rironi and along the railway line, you will find that many people are struggling to plough along the railway line yet, when you go deeper inside, you find that there is a lot of idle land where no activity is being done. In terms of food production, Egypt, which is virtually a desert, is the fourth largest producer of wheat. Israel produces fruits that it exports. Arable land in Kenya is much bigger in acreage compared with the area along the River Nile in Egypt that is being ploughed to produce wheat to export to the rest of the world. People are starving in Kenya. Currently, there are people facing serious starvation and are asking the Government to intervene. Hon. Temporary Speaker, you come from the North Eastern part of the country which is currently facing serious drought. I come from the North Rift. We are currently harvesting maize. We have a lot of maize stalks in our farms that some people normally grind as animal feed. Some people plough them back into the land or burn them yet, animals in other parts of the country are dying. We really need to rethink as a country to see what it is that we are not doing right. One part of the country should not have plenty while another part is facing starvation. Through public participation, we should decide which areas and how much land should be residential because someone can even buy a 10 by 10 feet piece of land to build a house because people need decent housing. I hope that this housing project by the Government can be expanded so that many Kenyans have access to decent housing, and release more land for cultivation. More importantly, we should look at land lying idle within the country that is not being utilised yet it is within arable areas that the owners can either be made to pay taxes, or release the free land to those who can use it even at a fee so that there can be food sufficient as a country, take care of our own needs and address the issue of food safety because both food safety and security run in tandem. This Motion by Hon. Ferdinand Wanyonyi will require a formulation of both regulations and laws that can go through public participation and let Kenyans have candid discussions on how they want to move as a country so that we are able to organise ourselves in terms of housing and agriculture so that we have enough food for our people and export. With those few remarks, I support."
}