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{
    "id": 126600,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/126600/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 635,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Sondu – Miriu Hydroelectric Power Plant is no more, the fishing on Lake Victoria is under threat and Lake Naivasha is under threat. You find some of our colleagues turning the issue of the Mau Forest Complex into a ping pong; a trivial matter where we are throwing tirades against each other as if it is not a serious matter. Once we reclaim the Mau, we must move to other water catchment areas that have been destroyed by the greed of Kenyans. I have in mind the Cherengany Water Catchment Area, the Mount Elgon Catchment Area, the Mount Kenya Catchment area and the Aberdares. This House must rise and save this country for tomorrow. Kakamega Forest has been cleaned off. If you fly over the Rift Valley from Nakuru as you go towards Kapsabet--- As you drive along the road, you will think that it is a forest; but when you fly over the area, all you see are patches and patches, showing how forests have been wiped out, yet we stand here and trivialise things. I was born on the slopes of Mount Elgon, and up to 20 years ago, the rivers that flow from Mount Elgon were very heavy and very clean. Today, 60 per cent of the streams that run from Mount Elgon to Lake Victoria are seasonal. Some are so tiny and some are seasonal. The few that have been left flowing look like flows of blood because of land mismanagement. We have to decide what we have to do with our environment. If you look at a country like Japan, 45 years ago, the forest cover for Japan was 20 per cent. Today, it is 70 per cent. Why can we not borrow a leaf from this? As we restore the Mau, I want to urge the Minister for Forestry and Wildlife, who is here, not to move into the Mau and start planting exotic trees. Those exotic trees only have a life span of about 18 to 20 years. Eventually, they will either die or we will let in loggers to go and harvest them. We must restore our natural forests with natural trees that live and withstand the test of time. In fact, I want to suggest that we do not plant trees in some parts of the Mau. If we limit human activities, the forests will regenerate by themselves within no time. This has been proved in many parts of the world. I would want to urge this House that we shoulder our responsibilities as soon as we finish with the Mau. I invite you, hon. Members, to turn your attention to Mount Elgon and to Mount Kenya. It is a shame that all the Seven Folks Power Stations are closed and are producing zero power. We have had more severe droughts than this one and we have never closed all the seven folk’s power stations. Now, they are all closed. If you travel along the Highway to Mombasa, you will see no water flowing in Athi River. This also applies to many other places. The Tana River is gone. Where are we headed? It is our collective duty, as well as our collective shame. The leaders of yesterday and the leaders of today stand indicted, and this indictment will haunt many of us for a long time to come. Those of us who have spoken recklessly in defense of the occupation of the Mau, I want to urge you to stand up, be counted, repent and see the way forward, that the future of this country will not rely on our reckless public political speeches. However, it will depend on our responsibility as leaders and as custodians, trustees of the Kenyans of today and tomorrow. The privilege we have been given to lead this country excludes our recklessness."
}