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{
    "id": 1384766,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1384766/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 732,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Emuhaya, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Hon. Deputy Speaker, thank you for this opportunity. I wish to indicate that this Bill which deals with sharing and how the counties, communities and the national Government can benefit from the natural resources that we have, on the face of it looks very good. You can be carried away and see that it will be very beneficial of which I will be speaking to that. But in the end, we have to look deep down at the basis from which legal framework emanated from and see what it means. May I briefly touch on that legal basis from which it emanates. Earlier on, you noticed two Members were asking about the memorandum of this Bill. You will notice that it ends up being a Money Bill because it tends to create an authority that will require monies to be put in place both for the employment of the people who will work within that authority and the many other issues there that require money. Ordinarily, if you look at the parliamentary practice that we use, you will find that money Bills do emanate from this House. This Bill has emanated from the Senate. So, there are certain fundamental issues which will be dealt with. Apart from the good things that I will also be speaking about, there are fundamental things that we shall need to consider. I do not know if the Chairman is listening to this because money bills ordinarily would have to emanate from this House, and not the Senate. However, here we have it and that is the direction it is taking. Secondly, I would also be happy and flamboyantly support those for whom the face value of this Bill seems to create a situation where there is good sharing of resources by the communities and the county governments in that place. You heard speakers earlier say that in the sharing formula, they would advise that more money goes to the county because that is where the resource is found whether it is coal or the gold in Kakamega, western that is spoken about. For that bit, it is okay because it then gives the local communities a chance to benefit from a resource that originates from their place and possibly helps in the recovery of the exploitation processes that do occur to any mineral. That is whether it is the coal in Ukambani or the gold in Kakamega where there is a lot of digging and excavations being undertaken. Tourism can never be left out because the Maasai for the longest time have wondered why we still keep animals around them and say that we are protecting them as a resource that is good for an income earner while at the same time, they do not see the benefits they are getting from those wild animals around them. Therefore, I would be precise to indicate that the Chairperson of this Committee will have to be clear in his rebuttal, possibly when he will be speaking to this Bill at the end of the debate. He should make it clear that there are certain things within this Bill which must be removed. For instance, the Bill is being described as a money Bill yet it emanates from the Senate. However, there are also good things in this Bill, which allow the local communities and people from the counties to benefit from the resources in their areas. However, as you go through the Bill, you will notice that there is a benefits-sharing formula between the county governments, the community and the national Government for most natural resources such as petroleum products. In fact, the one area where benefits-sharing has not been properly done is with regard to water. The Chairperson should look into those areas. There is no proper law on how to share out the water benefits because water sometimes runs across several counties. Water may flow from Ndakaini Dam in Murang’a County and end up in Nairobi County. How can we share the benefits across all the counties that benefit from the water running through them? Finally, we may isolate the issue of benefit-sharing to just water and any other resource that may have not been legislated on, or a formula has not been put in place. With those very few remarks, I support the Bill but with reservations that we must straighten it out so as to fit our parliamentary practice."
}