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{
    "id": 1569757,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569757/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 225,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kisumu East, Independent",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Shakeel Shabbir",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Livestock also covers fish, and that has been a big problem. We are spending too much money. I remember some time ago, we spent several billions shillings counting the fish in the Indian Ocean and nothing came out of that exercise. We are now going to open up parks all over yet we are not being told how we are developing the fishing industry. Lake Victoria is one of the most polluted lakes. We have a problem. How is this Extension Services Bill going to help us? Hon. Temporary Speaker, I think you know Namthoi in Kisumu East, which used to be one of the breadbaskets in that area but it has since been shut down. The extension workers do not go there. The county government has no interest in these things, or they have no money. When I was the Mayor of Kisumu, the agricultural extension service office was next to the District Commissioner’s (DC) office, and they used to go along. I remember that we did some dairy cattle promotion in Kajulu, and we worked together. Our problem is the fact that we are always keen to come up with a board, a committee or do something else, but we are not keen on implementation. That is solely the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture. Previously, our President was the Minister for Agriculture and he did a good job when he was there. This is a very important issue that we need to work on. Another issue that comes to my mind is the issue of irrigation. This country is saddled with a pre-colonial agreement that culminated in the Nile Treaty. In my Constituency, Kisumu East, we usually get floods, after which we get into a drought period. When we want to start saving water, we are told that the Nile Treaty does not allow us to have water dams. This is an issue we need to deal with. When we talk about it, we are told, “No, this is a national Government issue.” We also have a number of farmers who went ahead and got greenhouses. If you go to my constituency, it is a shame to see some of those greenhouses rotting. The farmers do not understand what is happening anymore. There was a company which had extension workers but they wanted to be paid, hence the initiative did not work. In Kisumu, we have peanuts, rice, cotton and sugar. Surely, we have one of the best rice and cotton in the country. Which extension workers do we need? The extension workers we need are the ones who are there. They need to be re-appointed. I suggest that this Bill, which I do not support, only refers to the issue of national Government. I was part and parcel of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC). I acknowledge that we made a mistake on health and agriculture. We should not have given these functions fully to the county governments. Even as I speak, we have problems with the UHC. When talking about combining the national Government with the county government on this, we should look at what happened to the UHC. We also have industrial parks. There is one not far away from you, Sir, in Siaya. Nearly Ksh1 billion is there yet the park is in the middle of nowhere, doing nothing. I do not know whether it is completed or not. We can even go and use that area to farm. We do not need to research some of these things that we know. How can you research something that you know about very well? That is where we are going wrong. As I conclude, I oppose this Bill. The paddy rice in Kisumu is being taken by Ugandans. They are coming to Kisumu and taking our paddy rice fields."
}