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{
    "id": 1456802,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1456802/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 50,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 170,
        "legal_name": "Bonny Khalwale",
        "slug": "bonny-khalwale"
    },
    "content": "In Bullet No. 66, we are told that: “We have farming activities that predominantly attract human activity on the wetland and its surrounding environments. The prison has set aside 20 acres for farming.” The question is what is the core role of a prison? Is it farming? We must stop all prisons in Kenya from doing any farming activity. Their core responsibility is to take care of prisoners. If they are denied this opportunity, the farmers in Nyamira will have a chance to do business with Nyamira prisons. They will sell their farm produce to this prison and make money instead of setting aside 20 acres under the pretext that the food that comes from these 20 acres is used to feed prisoners. It should never be the case. This is what the prison officers in Nyamira do: They farm maize, sorghum, beans and millet on these 20 acres and sell to the Prisons Department despite of being paid as officers. So, this is a clear avenue of corruption. It allows prison officers in Nyamira to enrich themselves pretending that they have crops and farm produce that they can sell to the prison's land. This reminds me of a similar experience we have back home in Kakamega in a place called Shikusa Prison. The officers are doing exactly what is happening in Nyamira. As such, this report and its recommendations should not only apply to Nyamira, but also Kakamega. Officers come to Kakamega and by the time they leave the station five to 10 years later, they have become multi-millionaires by farming Shikusa Prison land and selling the produce to Shikusa Prison. Mr. Speaker, Sir, you were in that Chair when I clashed on the Floor of this House during question time with the former Cabinet Secretary for Roads and Transportation. I clashed with him over the issue of Shikusa Prison land because he had proposed from the podium there that they had talked to some Members of Parliament of Kakamega and they wanted to convert it into an airport. I told them it was not right. You cannot desegregate the environment for the sake of an airport. Therefore, we, the people of Kakamega in general and the people of Shinyalu in particular, are saying never shall we allow Shikusa Prison land to be converted into an airport. We want the current airstrip in Kakamega to be expanded according to the wishes of the 197 families that have signed and agreed to move for expansion instead of going and interfering with their ecosystem. Bullet No.67 tells us that the land has been encroached upon by members of the community and has been converted to farmland without provision for environmental conservation. This is my appeal to the good people of Nyamira, even as this House sits to deliberate, we shall not allow a section of the people in Nyamira to go into this land. As such, the Senator for Nyamira should bear with us. I know some members of the community will feel that we are throwing them out. Yes, we are. If you want to get free land, these people who are affected, statistically, there is no fairness because there are just a few of you who want to benefit and it is not justified. The population of Nyamira is 605,576 people."
}