Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1490498,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1490498/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 311,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Okiya Omtatah",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I live within the heart of the city and I get water pumped to me twice a week. Therefore, you have to invest in some funny plastic tanks, whose safety you do not know about. When those tanks get heated up by the sunshine, you do not know the kind of chemical reactions occurring in that tank. Sometimes, you end up feeling weaker than you are supposed to feel. Madam Temporary Speaker, the obligation on the State to supply this very, scarce commodity is something that we must look at critically. In Busia County, that elected me, you have two areas that have got acute water shortages. One is Samia, and the other is Teso North. Acute water shortages that you might identify with the North Eastern and yet Busia has got a lake. Part of Lake Victoria is in Busia. We get floods in Budalang’i, but that does not mean that there are no parts of Busia which have this problem. With a situation like that and with a poor population, which may not be able or is not able maybe to pay for tapped water, it is important for the State to come in. If a bulk water supplier was to go there and say that he wanted to tap the water in Lake Victoria and pump it all the way to go and do irrigation in Turkana, that can be done. However, what would be the considerations for the local people? We have seen Murang’a supplying water to Nairobi. What are the considerations for those people? This culture whereby laws are made for the rich is a dangerous culture; where roads are built for those who drive, not those who walk, ride bicycles or motorcycles and whereby, we think that Kenya only belongs to the small elite who live good lives, like Sen. Karen Nyamu. That kind of a situation does not belong to all of us. So, when you come to this situation whereby you are trying to privatize a natural resource, then technically, we must put in mechanisms to ensure that these vulnerable groups are protected. Madam Temporary Speaker, it is not for nothing that they are mentioned specifically in the Constitution. It is not for nothing that the Constitution declares water within the Bill of Rights. Water is mentioned twice in the Bill of Rights. Not even the right to life, which is just mentioned once, but the right to water is mentioned twice, in 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."
}