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{
    "id": 1199012,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1199012/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 238,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Wajir South, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Mohammed Adow",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "reality of what we were looking for. I represent Wajir South, which is the second largest constituency in this country; second only to North Horr in Marsabit. The size of Wajir South is about 23,000 square kilometres. To give a snapshot, that is the size of Nairobi, Central Kenya and Western Kenya combined. It is represented by one Member of Parliament. I believe that is a blot on the conscience of Kenyans. We have been short-changed many times when boundary reviews of constituencies have been carried out. We hope this time round, justice, equity and even-handedness will prevail. Wajir South has four sub-counties with only two which are fully operational. The other two are work in progress. The sheer size of the constituency makes it really difficult for delivery of services not just from the Member of Parliament and other elected leaders, but also Government and aid workers, who are in the process of alleviating the biting drought that is afflicting my people at this time. Drought is a big problem right now for the people of Wajir South. Over the years, we have seen cyclic droughts that have decimated livestock and made the people really weak. Over the past five years, we have had the lethal mix of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the locust invasion as well as the drought. Last year, it was declared a national disaster. This year again, it is the same. We are here talking about drought and it is getting worse and worse by the day. This is the consequence of climate change, and it is here to stay with us. It is about time we learnt to adapt and live with climate change. It is a global phenomenon and not much of our own making. But we are bearing the brunt of the ruthlessness by which Western industrialised countries have dealt with our environment. But we must adapt because if we do not, we will be having even more problems. Right now, there are discussions going on not just in my constituency and the greater Wajir County, but also in other parts of the country that are afflicted by the dry spell. Pastoralism, as we have seen over the ages, is untenable. We can no longer continue to chase rainfall because it has become less and far between. What we need is to adapt and change our lifestyles so that we get to live a much better life than the one we are living right now. That is because every year, we are seeing caravans of relief convoys taking food to the people. To an extent, we have been reduced to a people dependent on the goodwill of others. We are talking about agro-pastoralism, more settled farming as well as keeping livestock which is a priced source of livelihood for the people of the north, where Wajir South is located."
}