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{
"id": 1418628,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1418628/?format=api",
"text_counter": 316,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tinderet, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Julius Melly",
"speaker": null,
"content": "make sure that certain bodies are formed to address certain problems that are peculiar to a particular region. I want to thank the Chair and the Committee for bringing all the development authorities under one law. Previously, we had different laws for different authorities. Right now, we will have them under one piece of legislation. It will be very easy for us to bring them to order. When you look at the Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA), where my county Nandi falls, it covers Kisumu, Busia and all those other areas. The LBDA tries to address issues that are within the lake region. However, some of those development authorities have failed to address their core mandate over the years. In some instances, some of them went ahead and began to construct buildings in towns and yet, that is not their core mandate. Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) has a huge building in Eldoret and the LBDA has a building in Kisumu. They were supposed to address agricultural issues like cotton in the lake basin, sorghum along the Kerio Valley, cattle and camel along the Ewaso Nyiro and issues of range development where livestock can be kept in some of the areas. It came to the notice of this Committee that most of the regional bodies were actually designed to address certain specific issues that were peculiar to their areas of operation. However, because of mismanagement by previous boards, institutions and chief executive officers (CEOs), many Members believe that those regional bodies are not necessary. That is not true. It is up to this House to sit down and develop a clear mandate for those authorities the way the Committee has done with the specific roles that they will play. Part of the mandate of the Kerio Valley Development Authority, the Lake Basin Development Authority and all those others was to make sure that farmers in their region get sufficient water. For example, the Lake Basin was supposed to drill boreholes for households, schools and institutions so as to ensure that waterborne diseases are eradicated. They were also supposed to offer educational services on proper cotton farming so that this country can be self-reliant in textile industry. This would create jobs. In the Kerio Valley, the Authority could promote sorghum and millet farming, build schools and make sure that there are dams to provide water for irrigation. That could stop the menace of cattle rustling, which is still going on. If those authorities were very effective, the issue of cattle rustling would be a thing of the past. Now you realised that they have invested huge resources in buildings in town which, in the first place, they were supposed to have used the resources to water the dams they have constructed. They should have encouraged the people who are engaged in cattle rustling, for example, to transition into sorghum farming, millet farming, maize farming and fruit farming. If you look at the Kerio Valley itself, it is rich in fruits. If we can go ahead and develop those ones, it could discourage the young men from raiding their neighbors. Those authorities are not doing that. That is why we are proposing that it should be illegal for those bodies to engage in activities that are not part of their mandate. Consider, for example, the Coast Development Authority. We have huge potential for livestock farming across the various counties in the Coast region. We have the Tana River, Taita Taveta, and many other regions in that area, including along the Ewaso Nyiro area. If those people are encouraged to engage in livestock farming, our country could once again become one of the top exporters of beef. One of the earlier speakers mentioned that Botswana is now one of the leading exporters of meat and yet, they once benchmarked with Kenya. Therefore, we need each development authority to clearly define the issues they are supposed to address. On the issue of leadership, I disagree with the previous speakers who suggested that those authorities should be managed by locals in their respective regions. We are one country, one nation and one people. What we need is expertise to run those authorities, not necessarily The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor"
}