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{
    "id": 154445,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/154445/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 370,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "May 14, 2009 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 545 Eng. Rege",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to also contribute to the Motion. I would like to support what Mr. Michuki has said that in Kenya we do not walk the talk. We talk, research and do a lot of things but we do not implement. I am saying so because to date, we are still spending billions of shillings buying food when we should not. This country has abundant rainfall, arable land, the will and the science that we need to have adequate food for this country. It pains to see that just recently, we had to approve some Kshs7 billion to buy food. May I say that where I come from, Karachuonyo Constituency, in the southern part of Lake Victoria lies, a very rich land. Research has been done and records are available at the Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA) in Kisumu. There are more than six volumes of research on food security in this country. Let me just point out a few of those findings. It was reported that around the lake from the northern part of Mara River all the way to River Nzoia, we have adequate land running to some 400,000 hectares that are completely arable, and if possible we can always do natural irrigation using the rivers that flow in Lake Victoria. We could secure the water by creating dams that will protect the water from going into the lake and have adequate water to do natural irrigation into all those large hectares of land. This could give us enough food to feed this country throughout the year. To date, Lake Victoria is choking from hyacinth right before our eyes and nobody is looking at it, it as if it is not even there. Nobody has recognized what we can get from Lake Victoria. The water hyacinth is feeding on the soil swept from the highlands into the lake through soil erosion. I suggest that the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation look into this matter. They should look into the research that has been done to provide food security in this country. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Lake Victoria has fish that gives us about Kshs400 million as revenue annually. In Karachuonyo, we have so many fish farming areas. We have fish landing ports but we cannot reach them simply because we do not have roads to those places. Very soon, we will be throwing fish one by one across the galleys in Karachuonyo. This is because there are no roads that can be used to take the fish to Nairobi, Kisumu and so on. In short, I am saying that we are not paying attention to food security and development in areas that can give us economic development in the country. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we have an organisation called the Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA) that has its headquarters in Kisumu. The LBDA is a laughing stock, if I may say so. All the researches that it has done are dormant. They are not taken seriously. There is no money to implement the results of any of these researches that have been done. Today there is something called Kimira-Oluch Irrigation Scheme. I think early last year vehicles were brought in and launched, but to date, there are no drivers for these brand new vehicles. This is because the scheme is not being financed properly. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, may I say that this country seriously needs proper commissions that can implement what we have researched and spent money on. This plague is not just in this country. I have seen it in other countries as well. Surely, Kenya is equipped to ensure that we walk the talk. That is my contribution. Thank you very much."
}