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{
    "id": 1451299,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1451299/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 146,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Ogola",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this critical Bill by our senior brother, Sen. Abass. I would like to begin by congratulating His Excellency the President for nominations to Cabinet positions, which he has just done. In my home county, that is Homa Bay Town, I am told that people are excited that at least the President is beginning to show the face of this country. Going forward, I hope he will keep on with that spirit of ensuring that the face of Kenya is reflected in his Government in other nominations. We all know there that there can only be 22 nominees for Cabinet positions and not everybody can be nominated. I encourage our young Senators, that is Sen. Orwoba and others, that there is always another time. Going forward, we would like to see the face of the youth in the nominations to the Cabinet positions. A number of our young people, both women and men, should get a chance because there is something that they can bring to the Cabinet, which is the highest decision-making organ of the country. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, coming back to the Fire and Rescue Services Professionals Bill, this is a Bill that is crucial to us. In my sub county headquarters called Ndhiwa, which is a growing town with small businesses, we have had so many fire outbreaks. I remember an upcoming businessman called Hope lost all the items in his shop and savings when a fire broke out. I also remember one upcoming young businesswoman in Ndhiwa Town called Mama Lucy lost all items in her shop. I do not know whether it is a coincidence. We have fire outbreaks on days when these shopkeepers stock their shops. Some of it could be because of electric faults. However, from the goings-on in my town centre, I know it could be malice. The bottom line is that a number of businesses have been lost in my town and also in other towns. It is so unfortunate that Mama Lucy lost her shop when she had invested all her earnings in it. Soon after that great loss, we lost Mama Lucy. These fire outbreaks are a great loss to our community. Other than Mama Lucy who lost a whole shop in Ndhiwa Town, we also have Hope and Japala. There is a great lady who has done business over the years in Ndhiwa Town called Min Onyas, a son called Onyas Owaga, Winston and Okumu. That shows you the magnitude of loss that fire causes in our urban centres. Fire outbreaks are not only limited to the urban centres. We have also seen fire outbreaks in rural homes. Some of them are because of domestic items that people use such as lanterns. Fire affects people. We have had loss of life, property and livelihood. So, this Bill by Sen. Abass is timely. I also want to talk about physical planning of our areas. Since fire outbreaks are majorly in urban areas, one of the major requirements in the Urban Areas and Cities Act in uplifting an urban centre to a municipality level, town or a city like Nairobi is the presence of a fire station. At this juncture, it is important to say this. In the past few years, a number of our towns have been upgraded to municipalities through the World Bank-initiated projects with the State Department of Housing and Urban Development yet they do not even have established fire stations. That is very dangerous because of the populations in our towns and urban centres. 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."
}