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{
    "id": 1378855,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1378855/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 128,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "dated 21st December, 2021. Where does the responsibility lie? Why are they dragging the feet when it comes to implementing that Gazette Notice? I commend the Committee on Energy, led by the Senator for Nyeri, Sen. Wamatinga, for writing this Report in simple language. That also goes to other committees in the Senate and other bodies in the country that write good reports. If you want the best reports worldwide, they should come from Kenya. Our problem is when it comes to reading reports and implementing them. We need to hold this Committee responsible for ensuring that they develop an implementation matrix for this Report. The Committee went out of its way to give a timeline within which the implementation of all their recommendations should happen. If these were to be implemented, we would finally sort out a big aspect of what we are crying about in Kenya, the cost of living. The cost of power is driving the cost of living high for everyone in the Republic. The Senate Secretariat should ensure that once this Report is adopted, there is a tracker for implementation. That way, we will have hope and eventually see light at the end of the tunnel. Even before Kenya Power gets competitors in the market, they should tame power bills for all Kenyans. Though this Report is long with many pages, unfortunately, it begins and ends with the question of IPPs. Kenyans do not need to use their energy or effort to read this Report. Those enjoined should use the energy to perform or implement what the Constitution requires. Those working for Kenya Power and the Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum should read it. The question that the Senate needs to sort out is the issue of IPPs. I have mused myself listening to my colleagues talking about the signed contracts that have bound a whole nation into bondage that appears as though we cannot move out of. I beg to differ with many of the views fronted here today. If a contract is signed on behalf of the public and it has an element of illegality, it should be voided by the courts. When a contract has a public interest aspect within components of terms that are there, any party willing to be bound must also accept the fact that if the contract is performed in Kenya, the Constitution requires public and state officers and entities to be bound by terms and obligations set out under the Constitution of Kenya. Indeed, there is an exit to the contracts. The fact that it has illegality and unfairness that binds mwananchi in Kenya, who did not sit to sign the contracts, yet they are paying the bills, means there is an exit. If it is illegal or void ab initio, it should be declared as such and a revision discussed. The question that comes to my mind is; who are the faces behind IPPs? When I look at some of the names, some shareholders come from sophisticated destinations. You should be safer going to a court in London when it comes to application of democratic principles, principles of fairness, and principles of justice to public interest. You would be safer taking that matter before a court in the United Kingdom (UK). Nothing stops the Ministry from exercising diligence. If the cited jurisdiction of those contracts is in the UK or Denmark, nothing stops the Ministry, Kenya Power, or 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 and AudioServices, Senate."
}