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"id": 1626449,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626449/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
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"speaker": null,
"content": "(Dr.) Khalwale, when I went to Mandera, there is meat that they call Nyir nyir . That is camel meat and it is extremely sweet. When I was there, I remembered the saying that if you are used to eating in your mother’s house, you will believe that she is the best cook. People need to move from their areas and see the suffering out there. An entire County of Mandera has no access to electricity, then you come here and tell us stories that your area is also marginalised. Mr. Speaker, Sir, there is a community called the Ilchamus that lives in Baringo County. I have had an occasion to go to Baringo County. Those people live outside. When it rains, they are rained on. If you see the features in the news about how people live in those places, it is despicable. Then you come and tell us stories here that your area is also marginalised. Mr. Speaker, Sir, people need to travel when you are still in this House. No wonder I support Senators who call themselves Senators of the Republic of Kenya. You are a Senator for the whole Republic. When you vote here, you are not just voting for your village. However, all these people who require you to petition on their behalf. Fortunately for me, when it was happening at the Bomas of Kenya, I was not in primary school, but at the University of Nairobi (UoN). We are the ones who were being teargassed inside the university buses by the police when we were going to protest the killing of Dr. Mbae. We started eating teargas at a very early age and we want to stop eating teargas. In future, we do not want to continue using these weapons on our children. When they were framing the Constitution, in Article 204(2), they spoke about the rationale for this Fund, which is to provide basic services, including water, roads, health facilities and electricity to marginalised areas to the extent necessary to bring the quality of those services in those areas to the level generally enjoyed by the rest of the nation as far as possible. When you start measuring marginalisation, first of all, can we agree? What is the level of these services generally enjoyed by the rest of the nation? Mr. Speaker, Sir, where I come from, we are blessed. I wish the Senator was here. In Bungoma, water comes from the ground. The people of Mandera have never experienced that phenomenon. How can I drag money for water from Mandera to Bungoma? What conscience is that? What argument would you make to justify that? There is no justification. We have the largest solar power plant in the country in Loiyangalani somewhere in Marsabit, but the people of Marsabit do not have power. They just see powers cables flying on top to Suswa in Narok, then the rest of you come and tell us that you also need money. I think we need to be serious. I do not have a problem with some of the issues that the Senate Majority Leader has said, that there was need to relook the formula before coming to the smallest possible unit. How I wish we had done that after we had helped the initial counties to benefit, so that we realise the initial objective of this particular Fund. Personally, I would have no objection. Just last week, I brought a Statement which was directed to the Committee on Energy. There are entire wards that have gone for years without electricity. There is a hospital ward in Mathare that has gone for four years without electricity. We also have 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."
}