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{
    "id": 1472268,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1472268/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 390,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Thang’wa",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we use thermal energy in this country. Our major source of energy is thermal. This Bill is trying to bring about supporting renewable energy and technology. We are a country that recently passed a Climate Action Act because we want to be on the front line when it comes to matters of climate change. However, we can only achieve that by coming up with renewable energy like wind and solar. I remember the first Presidential address at the National Assembly of the joint Houses of Parliament, the President said that he would allow societies or groups of people to generate power and sell it to the Government. I believe this amendment will assist in achieving exactly that. County governments can come up with power-generating activities so that they can also earn revenue. County governments like Nairobi City and Kiambu, which have a lot of garbage and waste, can use it to generate power and sell it to the national grid. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, whenever they use the power for their hospitals, car parks and schools, they can also be paying less than what they are paying today. The money that they get from there, can as well be used to construct roads and other entities. When Sen. Cherarkey was contributing, he challenged me to talk about it passionately and without fear. I want to tell him I am not easily coerced; I am uncompromisable. I am intrepid. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I might be small in stature, but I am intrepid at heart. I cannot back down. I come from an era where people are referring to problems and other people as snakes. Let us talk about black and white mambas. We should not even deal with the vipers, which are small snakes. Let us talk about cobras and black mambas. These are the issues that we are raising whenever we appear in our committees. For example, the issue of Adani is a king cobra issue that we need to deal with when it comes to PPPs and Privately Initiated Projects (PIPs). Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this Amendment Bill is talking about public participation. I want to make it clear that there is a difference between public participation and stakeholders' consultation. Public means, you consult everyone; whether they are in that field, they use electricity or not and whether they are interested or not. They must have a say. Public participation, as it is in the Constitution, talks about the people of Kenya must be informed, given details and listened to. As you know, whenever we have public participation, we ask for written memoranda and oral submissions. We must involve the public in decisions that affect their daily lives. It empowers Kenyans to have a say in how energy is procured and ensuring that their voices are heard. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the reason why we pay high electricity bills is because KP gets into contracts even when they do not need that power. Therefore, there must be a feasibility study before any contract is entered into to know whether we need that power or not. If we do so, we will be able to prevent the people of Kenya from paying high bills or having exaggerated power connection fees. When you talk about transparency and accountability, we do not know the directors or names of these companies that generate power. Some people, even within the Government, hide behind these people so as to generate power and sell it to the Government. That is Government officials selling power to Government. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only.A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and Audio Services,Senate."
}