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{
    "id": 1223610,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1223610/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 127,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Onyonka",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13592,
        "legal_name": "Onyonka Richard Momoima",
        "slug": "onyonka-richard-momoima"
    },
    "content": "(MCAs) know who the forest officer is. These are things where we now need to wake up to. We will then come up with interventions so that we make sure we can change the direction our Country is taking and increase the forest cover as we have been advised to do. Looking at United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), we have a world organization stationed in Nairobi. I do not think that in the last three years I have seen any relationship or engagement between the national Government, county Governments, and the officials at the UNEP as to how they can help us. Everything is usually superficial where the President maybe goes to UNEP when there is a big conference only once and that is it. Yet, this is an international environmental program agency and we hardly have any contact with them. I believe that this team that has been given this responsibility will come up, engage and make sure that we change the direction that we have been managing our forests. Finally, I know that there has been an issue where everyone is talking about, “Oh! Now we need subjects where university students are going to have skills.” The skills are to do a, b, c, d and organize. I just think that our Government needs to encourage university students to get into environmental studies which is a study that has always been despised and disregarded. For example, the Government needs to give students bursaries and scholarships. That way many of our bright young men and women can engage in environmental studies. That will make sure we now push our country in the direction where we are responsible, know how to deal with our rivers, and where we do not politicize everything. You notice the wonderful idea about the Mau Forest where everybody has said, “Let us keep our water towers.” However, every time we discuss and agree on what we are going to do with our water towers, immediately the politics come. We then have the clan and tribal issues coming where people from Rift Valley begin to scream at each other about why we are not going to the Mau Forest to grow maize so that we are all to grow crops or to grow all sort of things to make quick money out of it. In fact, those forests are thought to be unnecessary. People are now beginning to realize that we must begin to look at our environment and how we manage our water towers seriously. We must begin to look at how we manage our lakes and the blue economy. How are we managing all these sectors which contribute directly to the management of our economy but at the same time the environment which is making us survive as individuals? In conclusion, I would like to say that it is always a pleasure to remember that we had people such as the late hon. Wangari Maathai. She was one of the people in this country who was highly regarded internationally. You can see what she did. How I wish that many of our young people, students, children, and grandchildren could take it upon themselves to make sure we maintain our environment, get the right forest cover, protect our rivers, take care of our own sustainability in general including the air. You notice that Nairobi is reasonably not polluted. However, the rate at which we are bringing in cars--- Kenya receives about 30,000 cars every year. In the next 10 years,"
}