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{
    "id": 1522958,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1522958/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 402,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kitui Rural, WDM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. David Mwalika",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you for giving me the opportunity to support the Bill. The Bill is important because gold mining and most mining has been done in a juakali or informal manner in this country. The Bill is trying to establish a Gold Processing Corporation. It also contains provisions relating to application of licences to mining and processing gold. Many of the people mining gold have poor returns due to middlemen. Most of them do not know the quality of gold. There are very many middlemen in this sector. Many times, we will hear that people have been conned by being sold fake gold. I remember one day my uncle bought gold. When he got to the house, he found that it was salt. People have lost a lot of money due to this kind of activity. Miners suffer from diseases, especially chest problems, but they cannot pay for their medical bills due to the poor earnings. If the Bill is going to establish a society, it will help them negotiate and fight for their rights. Therefore, this is an important Bill. They will earn what they deserve. Hon. Temporary Speaker, as other Members have said, all minerals in this country should be processed here. For example, gold is sold in raw form. The company that mines titanium in Kwale takes it for processing. Titanium is a very valuable mineral that is used in making the watches that we wear, and some parts of aircraft. These are very valuable products. If we process the minerals here in Kenya, we will create jobs, get income, and have economic growth. As we embark on this Bill, we also need to think about processing other minerals in this country so that as Kenyans we earn what is due to us. The Government should also embark on mining other minerals. Kitui is the third potentially rich county in this country. We have plenty of limestone, iron ore, coal, and copper. The coal we have in Kitui can light this country for 30 years without using anything else. Can you imagine how fast we can grow with coal lighting this country for 30 years? When you have coal and iron ore, you can start the steel industry. As much as we say that the country is poor, we are not looking at the mining sector. This country has a lot of minerals. I do not know what happened to the oil in Turkana. We were made to believe that there is a lot of oil in Turkana. Someone should be in a position to tell us what happened. This Bill is very important and we need to support it. We also need to think of other minerals. Thank you. I support."
}