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{
    "id": 1408486,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1408486/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 559,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Irene Mayaka",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Nyanza parts of Kenya are literally disconnected from Nairobi City County. This issue has affected children and mothers. We saw incidences of young children at the rooftops of their houses because of being helpless. They do not know what they need to do. We got reports that there would be El Nino about nine months ago. However, it did not happen at the time it was expected to start. So, we took our feet off the gear, in terms of disaster preparedness. We stopped being vigilant about floods. Even before we ask the national Government questions, we need to find out what the county governments have done. This is because the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act gives two per cent of the funds allocated to them for disaster management emergencies. Some of the counties that have been adversely affected by the floods like Nairobi City, Nakuru, Marsabit, Narok and Murang’a have excess money that they can use to help those who are indisposed. Today, the Cabinet directed that the people residing in areas affected by floods to move out within 48 hours. However, where will they move to? By now, we should have rescue centres in the affected areas, so that the victims can be rescued to higher grounds. There is a saying that when the waters are hungry and they want to reclaim their space, there is nothing you can do about it. Because of our greed to have property in different places, people have even built in riparian lands. So, the waters do not have anywhere to flow to. When the water passes through its natural course, it will flow where it wants to and there is nothing you can do about it. I have heard people comparing the situation here to what is happening in Dubai and Australia. They said that we should not feel like Kenyans are not ready. However, these countries have already or quickly put in place measures to ensure that they rescue their people. As Kenyans, what are we doing? I invite all of us to look at the issue of preparedness. We are one of those countries with the best policies in disaster management. For example, we have the National Policy for Disaster Management, National Disaster Management Authority Act, 2019 which was further amended in 2021, and the National Disaster Response Plan. We have the required papers to put in place measures to address this situation. However, what do we do? We end up having knee-jerk reactions to issues all the time. People panic and start wondering what to do, yet we have these papers that are just gathering dust that have put in place plans that are properly laid down. Today, the President visited the flood victims in Mai Mahiu. About two days ago, we also had a similar situation in Garissa where we lost many people. However, nobody has gone there. Is Garissa not part of Kenya?"
}