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"id": 176796,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Munyes",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Labour",
"speaker": {
"id": 187,
"legal_name": "John Kiyonga Munyes",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very important Motion. This Motion seeks leave of the House to introduce a Bill that would want to change the way we look at training and provide service to the livestock keeper. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I come from the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) areas of this country. The Mover has already indicated that 30 per cent of the agricultural production in this country come from livestock and 90 per cent is beef production. This country must put a lot of effort in ASALs to achieve that potential. As a country, we need to get change of mindset that requires the recognition of what should be done in the ASALs to improve livestock production. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is need for fundamental change in resource allocation. As we have seen, many times this sector does not get enough allocation. As we discuss this Motion, I look at a situation where in this country we look at performers as those who have acquired degrees and higher level education. However, in terms of service provision, what this country needs are the technicians. I can give a very good example. In the last one year, we have been struggling to reduce the effects of the Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) infection on Turkana sheep and goats. The whole of ASAL was affected by this disease. This disease also covered the whole country and killed so many livestock. We have lost more than three quarters of our flock of mainly sheep and goats. I look at this and say that doctors, who are not enough, would not have helped us. However, if we had trained enough technicians, then I know we would have covered the areas and vaccinated the livestock against this disease. We need to bring all the subjects and broaden them not only to improve our performance and expand institutions like AHITI Ndomba, but also look at the local training in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the past, in the 1980s, and I was part of that - I was in the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) world - we started the paravet training. In some places, we used to call it herders training, where we imparted skills to the locals themselves. It was a very popular idea in the 1980s and 1990s. That idea is now dwindling. I think donors are not providing more support. That training, which was imparted to the herders, themselves, ensured that livestock were treated. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as the Government talks about improving training and elevating institutions like AHITI Ndomba as campuses under Egerton University, we should start thinking of what is happening in our vision. The vision that we all talk about - Vision 2030 - will not be achieved if we do not critically look at this Bill. I look at this Bill as a solution to the problems affecting ASALs. We, in Kenya, think that we need to influence other countries and take our ideas to other countries. A good example is when we started the idea of AHITI Ndomba in Rwanda, Burundi and other countries where we emphasized the passing of those skills to other people. I was in Rwanda yesterday and one of the things they told our delegation was that AHITI was starting in Rwanda, while our AHITI here is dying! We are not taking on board so many students. We are not giving them enough facilities. We are not encouraging them! The way about it is to decentralise those institutions. Let us not follow what the donors have told us; to cut down on training! Let us decentralise those institutions, especially in the ASALs, where those demands are 3810 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES December 03, 2008 made. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, disease surveillance in this country is another issue which we need to look into. As we discuss disease surveillance, diseases affecting this country are from other foreign countries, especially Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia, where their livestock are not vaccinated. Again, to undertake all that, we need enough technicians. We do not need doctors! Let us justify that because it is the technicians who cover all those areas and not doctors! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on this subject, I also want to digress a bit. I have always talked about this Ministry as a very critical Ministry, which requires a lot of support. We need to undertake new measures in the Ministry of Livestock Development. In our place, where there is increased livestock conflict; where people engage in cattle rustling--- This morning, you heard what happened in Turkana. We have lost over 15 people. This morning, I have also been called and informed about another raid in Lokichoggio, where so many people have also died. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think, as a country, we need to protect our borders, prevent diseases and protect ourselves against those who come to kill our people and take away our livestock. I have always talked about a livestock census! We do not know what numbers we have in this country. To stop people from stealing from others, we have always talked about livestock branding. That is an issue which, I think, with enough technicians, we can solve and, in a way, help our societies which are now facing those problems. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, livestock diseases are affecting our livestock marketing. I want to volunteer this information to Kenyans. As we speak now, our markets in Southern Sudan, where sheep and goats are going for Kshs6,000, is a plus for this country! We need to open up to those countries. To do that, again, we need to have enough technicians to provide a service that will ensure that we have healthy livestock in this country, which will enable us to prosper. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Animal Health Act has a lot of shortcomings. It is a very protective Act. I can only see solutions from this new Bill that we are trying to discuss today. What I am saying is that we should compare that to what is happening in the health sector. In the health sector, hon. Members have gone out of their way to construct dispensaries all over the country. As a matter of record, I have about 20 dispensaries which have been constructed in my constituency. But we do not have enough officers to serve in those dispensaries. That is as a result of the way we look at things. We must have trained people - nurses and doctors - to serve in those dispensaries. We cannot achieve the proper healthcare that we need. The same applies with this Bill. If we do not put emphasis on training and providing technicians--- Even below that, we will have the same problem of not having enough technicians. That is because it is the same in the health sector - all those dispensaries are just without officers! Yet, we can have technicians with some basic knowledge to enable him to provide essential services. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}