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{
    "id": 1200220,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1200220/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 166,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nambale, Independent",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Geoffrey Mulanya",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Members, my name is Geoffrey Mulanya, the Independent Member of Parliament for Nambale Constituency. First, I thank you and congratulate you on your election as the Deputy Speaker of this House. Secondly, I thank the great people of Nambale for electing me as their Member of Parliament despite the difficult circumstances prevailing at the time. It was not easy to make it in Nambale as an Independent Member. I do not take this for granted. There are reasons the people of Nambale saw it fit to elect me to this House. Those are issues I advanced to them that touch on their livelihoods, particularly the issue of electricity, road network, agriculture, education and water supply. Let me first address the issue of electricity supply. We have a serious problem whereby electricity supply is not stable. This has greatly affected our people, especially the youth who depend on it for their livelihoods. I implore the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum to look into the issue because we have prolonged power blackouts that last for as long as 12 hours in Nambale Constituency. We do not understand this common occurrence that has prevailed for more than four years now. We really hope that the matter will be addressed with the urgency that it deserves. On health, I am aware that the health function is a devolved one. However, I implore my fellow Members to look into it. Letting health to remain a devolved function has led to the suffering of our people. You will find that the allocation given to counties is not adequate to address health issues. For instance, in Nambale, we have one of the oldest health centres that has been elevated to a Level 3 hospital. It is supposed to be a Level 4 hospital given the population of the people of Nambale. Besides that, we need to address the issue of the health policy. Since 2013 when we introduced the devolved functions, I have observed and noted that the health department has stagnated in growth. There is no progression in terms of health services being offered to our people. You will find that health facilities are still at the same level they were in even before devolution was introduced in the country. I will be urging fellow Members to really look into the health issue and properly analyse it, so that we determine whether it should be fully left to the devolved units or not. On agriculture, the people of Nambale depend on agriculture at the rate of 80 per cent as it is the backbone of their economy. I am happy that in his Speech, the President emphasised on supporting farmers, so that they contribute to the growth of the economy. On that note, he promised to follow up on the issue of subsidised fertilisers. The difficulty the people of Nambale are facing is that one of accessing subsidised fertilisers. You will note that the fertilisers are channelled through the NCPB. The people of Nambale do not have the benefit of having an NCPB branch near them. The nearest ones are in Bungoma and Malaba. Now, Bungoma is 80 kilometres away and farmers are really hampered in accessing the commodity. The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries should deem it fit to ensure that subsidised fertilisers are distributed through the constituencies or sub-counties so that, as representatives, we can help farmers access them. We could also register them for distribution. The road network is another challenge really affecting the growth of our great constituency. We have one tarmacked road only from Mumias to Busia Town. We have two other key roads that connect the constituency, that is, the Butula-Malaba Road and the Mumias- Mianga-Kimaeti Road. These roads are very key in supporting the businesses of the people of Nambale so that they can access the market to sell their produce. From 1990, we have never had expansion of road network in the constituency. I believe that the current Government will look at the issue and ensure that Nambale also benefits from the national cake."
}