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{
    "id": 1446558,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1446558/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 177,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": " Madam Temporary Speaker, I join my colleagues in giving my thoughts on the Local Content Bill (Senate Bills No.50 of 2023). It is a Bill that will provide a framework to facilitate local ownership, control and financing of activities connected with exploitation of gas, oil and other petroleum resources to provide framework to increase local value capture along the value chain in the exploration of gas, oil and other petroleum resources and for connected purposes. This Bill has been in Parliament for a while. I think this is the third attempt to legislate on this issue of local content. Unfortunately, each time this Bill comes to Parliament, there are significant changes that happen to it that sometimes it loses its objects. The initial idea was to involve the local communities in any resources found within a specific jurisdiction. Perhaps this is where we will require the services of the committee to provide clarity. If you read the object of the Bill I am referring to, you will be forgiven to imagine that it only speaks about oil and gas alone because that is the title that has been given to the Bill. The committee will need to provide clarity later when we are doing amendments. It is only when you read deeper into the preliminary parts of the proposed Bill in the definitions and the interpretation that they define better that the extractive industry here means oil, gas and mining sectors in Kenya. A plain reading of the title can easily confuse. That is not the real essence of what we intend to do with this Bill. We must ask ourselves one question even before going into its ins and outs; what are we trying to achieve? Madam Temporary Speaker, mining as a sector contributed Kshs120 billion to the Kenyan economy in the last financial year. The desire of the Government, if you read the Kenya Kwanza Manifesto, is to grow it towards double digit. To make it almost 14 to 20 per cent as a contribution to our Goss Domestic Product (GDP). Let us not lie to ourselves, to do that is not much about what local people can get, but who you can attract to come and invest here for the locals to benefit. This is not the main problem of this mining or exploration sector in the country. I like the fact that this Bill speaks to safeguarding local interest. I wish we had merged this conversation and made it attractive for the people with the resources who want to come and mine the petroleum gas, or whatever mining activities that are being done in our various parts of the country. When we attract them, we find ways of safeguarding our locals. The problem is that we are speaking about ensuring the locals are not exploited and are benefiting from the industry. However, we do not even have that industry. Sen. Osotsi while speaking earlier asked how comes Vihiga and Kakamega counties do not get conditional grants from the mineral rights. It is because many of the mining activities he is describing and boasting proud of are artisan mining. They are not captured anywhere in the records of this country. These are just young men and women with sacks trying to do mining by use of their hands. It is not as an industry the way we understand it. The greater challenge to us and this is perhaps what I want to challenge the committee that is handling this particular Bill--- Probably, it is her intention that we, first 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."
}