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{
    "id": 137927,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/137927/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 375,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Kosgei",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13,
        "legal_name": "Lucas Kipkosgei Chepkitony",
        "slug": "lucas-chepkitony"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the fact that Kenya needs more water is no longer in doubt. The fact that we do not have enough water is quite obvious. We, therefore, should and must be speaking of what must be done. The Ministry has done its bit to show us what they can do. Let me start by congratulating them most heartedly for the advocacy of how and why we need dams. A long time ago, I lived in Southern Africa. They have only one season of rain but they still farm because they collect all the water that falls into the dams. We know of countries in this world, especially in the Middle East where they do not get any rain but whatever they get is not wasted. We must, therefore, not just talk about irrigation and dams as if it is something that is not feasible. It is feasible and it is important that this Ministry has more than just what is given in this Budget which they are asking us to support. This amount of money of just over Kshs8 billion is not enough to do the kind of dams that we need. Why do I so say so? It is because every time we talk about water, we talk of the most immediate need; that is, domestic use. Kenya is an agricultural country. We have gone to the point where we tend to demonize those people who use large amounts of water for large scale agriculture. Naturally, the water we need to use for domestic use comes first because we must stay alive. But ultimately, we need to understand that unless we can get our tea and coffee moving, there is no way Kenya can earn revenue. This water is extremely important because the only other way that I know Kenya earns revenue is by tourism and that cannot also be sustainable without water. So, I would like to ask the Ministry, maybe, we should do a little more in collecting water. We are told by our gurus these days that there is going to be an El Nino . Are we prepared? Do we have the dams? Is the money there and is the Ministry prepared? I know the Ministry is aware but they are just as good as the amount of money they are given. Can we do a little more? Can we be a little more creative?"
}