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{
"id": 1200726,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1200726/?format=api",
"text_counter": 129,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Isiolo CWR, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Mumina Bonaya",
"speaker": null,
"content": "President. However, I wish to state here that, looking at how the situation is evolving, more action needs to be taken urgently so as to save both human lives and livelihoods. Continuous food relief is needed from now until five to six months after the rains. When it rains, hunger persists up to when farmers harvest first and animals bounce back strongly. I advise that in future, food distribution should be guided by the number of households in a sub- location and the population in an area. I am saying this because I am sad to report to this House that the consignment that was flagged off by His Excellency the President ended up at household level as just one kilogramme of rice and one kilogramme of beans. Looking at the situation on the ground, this will not change anything, if we are actually serious about addressing the situation. Once again, the President talked about climate change. He pointed out climate mitigation measures that include reducing greenhouse emissions to lessen the effects of climate change. While we appreciate that, what the President’s Speech missed out was the adaptation part of climate change. As we all know, the effects of climate change are already upon us. We must find ways to cope with it. This needs to happen at both national and local levels. As a country, we will continue experiencing the effects of climate change in the foreseeable future. It is important that we begin the journey on how we can cope with it. In this regard, for effective adaptation to take place, as a country, we need to invest and make use of climate information in all our planning and development decisions. It is not right that we are always surprised by failed rains and the drought situation in our country. As such, we fail to act in good time to save lives and livelihoods. I am still debating on the President’s Address. I was saddened by the fact that he did touch on the security situation in my county and the entire northern Kenya. For a very long time now, insecurity in northern Kenya, and specifically in Isiolo County, has been a matter of great concern. For example, Merti Sub-County has now become a battle field where militias from Wajir, Marsabit and Samburu East walk in at will, kill, maim and drive off herds of livestock belonging to the locals, with so much impunity. Lack of security has displaced families. Schools have closed down and Government services are not being rendered to the people. Strategic water points and grazing areas like Yamicha, Nyachis and Kom have been abandoned by locals. This makes Isiolo people more vulnerable to the biting drought situation as they now lack access to key resources that were once their drought fall-back areas. A week hardly ends without an attack from these neighbours. Over the last three years, we buried a countless number of people with no trace and hope of recovering the herds of cattle that have been stolen. To put the matter into correct perspective, the pastoralists and their herds of cattle in Isiolo County survive severe drought situations only to be killed and their herds of cattle stolen by militia from Wajir, Marsabit, Garissa or Samburu East. This has gone on unabated for far too long. As a matter of urgency, it is time the State moved in to look into the underlying drivers of these conflicts with the intention to address the matter decisively and restore back respect for people’s lives and their properties, as guaranteed in our Constitution. As I conclude, I wish to make an appeal to the Government, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), well-wishers and all Kenyans to remember the Kenyans who are now starving to death. We need to come together in the Kenyan spirit, like we have always done, to save the situation."
}