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{
    "id": 1201449,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1201449/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 529,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wamatinga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13582,
        "legal_name": "Wahome Wamatinga",
        "slug": "wahome-wamatinga"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I have been waiting for this opportunity for the past three days. Finally, it has come. I will start by congratulating the President, His Excellency, Dr. William Samoei Ruto, and his Deputy, Hon. Rigathi Gachagua. I come from Nyeri County and I am happy that we have started on a high note. Let me also take this opportunity to congratulate the House leadership on their selection to various Committees and leadership positions. I also congratulate all the Senators who fought the hard battle and won. The same applies to those who played a big role and were nominated by their respective parties. It is indeed a good combination. This Fourth Senate has the opportunity to change the course of devolution in this country. Having two former governors in this House, the Speaker being one of them, and also having young people who served as Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) and Members of the National Assembly, we have the best combination to change the course and make devolution work if we so wish. I want to make a few comments on the Presidential Speech. Mine will be short because a lot has been said. Since most Senators have left, I will be brief by doing it in a summarized form. I would like to start by thanking the people of Nyeri County for overwhelmingly electing me as their third Senator. One of the reasons why they did so is because 56 per cent of Nyeri County is Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL). We have the opportunity to change that. In his address, the President mentioned about changing the approach and having dams constructed without being funded by the Government because it would take too long. Rather, it should be done through PPPs. I see that as a golden opportunity for us to realize most of the long-term infrastructure development projects which have been elusive because we do not have the budgetary allocations. When we had it, money ended up being reallocated to address other pressing issues. The country is facing a major drought that we have never experienced before. We thank him for ensuring that we have subsidized fertilizer. However, without rainfall, the fertilizer will not help us a lot. I hope that this House will do what it takes to put the legislative framework in place, so that we encourage PPPs. The danger of having PPPs has been raised on this Floor. Some Senators believe that it is prone to corruption, but I have a different point of view. PPP is equity from private entities and they account for each coin. It is also a golden opportunity that will enable us to address the challenge of unemployment, especially for our youth who have gone to school and have the knowhow. However, they lack the capacity in terms of capital to engage in meaningful activities. I believe that PPPs will address the challenges of relying on rain-fed agriculture and enable us to embrace irrigation farming which is the solution for this country. As mentioned earlier, Nyeri County, specifically Kieni Constituency being an arid area, it is an ideal place where if they have enough water could become the food basket"
}