Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1299422,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1299422/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 243,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Kamar",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 33,
        "legal_name": "Margaret Jepkoech Kamar",
        "slug": "margaret-kamar"
    },
    "content": "divergent view, you wanted that so that you could understand exactly where people were coming from. I congratulate the Committee and thank them for doing a very good and thorough public participation that other Committees can learn from. It was very impressive. Eldoret is a place that we have all waited to see become a city. We tried as much as possible to bring this forward. When I was the Senator for Uasin Gishu, we tried when the case for Nakuru was on. There are quite a number of things that the Committees then said that we needed to clear on the ground. Uasin Gishu is a very unique county. It is the former White Islands and the grain basket of the country. It sits between Nakuru and Trans Nzoia, which is actually the belt for food production. It is no wonder the whole belt became the White Highlands. This is because, even the colonisers realised that this was a very attractive area for investment in grains and all sorts of things. That is how they landed in the White Highlands. Madam Temporary Speaker, as it has been said by my colleagues, a lot can be said about Eldoret as an upcoming city. You saw it yourself with the Committee. You saw the provision of a lot of amenities in that city. Being a city in the middle of the grain basket of the nation, the price of food is lower than in most of the other places. This has attracted a lot of institutions. In fact, before the shake up in the secondary school education, all universities in Kenya had campuses in Eldoret, including the University of Nairobi. This is because it was very easy to start an institution in the town. Why? There is cheap food and continuous supply of water. I assure this House - I think I mentioned this during the Devolution Conference - that you can actually drink water in Eldoret off the tap. This is water that is purified in the hills of Elgeyo-Marakwet at source. As it comes down the hills, it is pure. The amenities in Eldoret are extremely attractive. Of course, another colleague talked about the hospitals. We have plenty of hospitals. In fact, the hospitals in Eldoret town are not serving Uasin Gishu only, but the Western Kenya region, which covers Western, Nyanza and North Rift. Not just that, it also covers Eastern Uganda. Many patients are brought in from Eastern Uganda to Eldoret town which is about to be conferred to the city status. Again, it is a very attractive place to invest in such amenities because of it is a very good environment. In fact, if you read the climatology books, somewhere not far from Eldoret, has the most stable climate in the world. I discovered this myself in the Roberts Library in Toronto when I was doing my Doctor of Philosophy (PhD); that the most stable climate is within Uasin Gishu, to the North of Eldoret Town. Thus, the stability of that place is very good. I am saying this not to just market Eldoret, but to invite you all who would like to invest there. Madam Temporary Speaker, we are currently hosting the County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) of Trans Nzoia, Elgeyo-Marakwet and Nandi counties within the same town. It is a very welcoming town and the people are very friendly. You have seen them for yourself. We were there before for the Senate Mashinani and recently for the Devolution Conference. These are people who are extremely hospitable. It is a nice place to be. I really support this Motion that it gets the conferment of city status. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard Services,Senate."
}