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"id": 176991,
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"content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to very strongly support this Sessional Paper on National Livestock Policy. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will be very brief in the interest of time. I know quite a number of colleagues are very passionate about this issue. I will, therefore, take as little time as possible in order to express what I want to say. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, first of all, as we thank the Government for bringing this Sessional Policy, it is 20 years after the first one was discussed in this House. 20 years! This tells you the mindset in the Government. The mindset is that certain economic activities are more superior and important than others. We must change this mindset because as it has been stated in this Policy Paper, ASAL areas represent 80 per cent of the land mass in this country. This means, 3840 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES December 3, 2008 therefore, 80 per cent of Kenyans are pastoralists. Only 20 per cent of Kenyans can be considered not to be pastoralists, so to speak. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, every time the Government creates Ministries based on demand, it has been seen that the Ministry of Livestock is always lumped with the Ministry of Agriculture. This has been the biggest injustice done to the pastoralist communities in this country. There should be no possibility, in future, to lump agriculture with livestock. These are two distinct economic activities which happen in two distinct geographical areas. We want to request future Governments to make these Ministries constitutional so that it becomes a permanent feature of Government. As pastarolists, we will really appreciate. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, 20 years after this Policy Paper was first discussed in this House, a lot of things have happened in this country. Therefore, this document needs to be reviewed. One of the things that has happened is that the Ministry of Livestock Development has been relegated to the periphery. The Government imagines that it is not important and therefore, the Ministry has lost the capacity to manage the affairs of pastoral communities in this country. They have lost staff, technicians and budget. This means a whole economy in this country has crumbled before our eyes. It is unfortunate that no leader has been able to raise this matter in a manner that should have forced or compelled the Government to change tact. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, now, the pastoral communities in this country are thanking the Government for creating the Ministry of Livestock Development. The Minister and the Assistant Minister are both pastarolists. If we fail to get it right this time, we will never get it right! This is a challenge for both the Minister and his Assistant Minister. They should make sure that this historical injustice is corrected and priority is given to livestock farmers in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is need, therefore, to review the employment policy that this Ministry was subjected to. It must be taken collectively within Government and there should be a crash programme to employ technicians, range managers, drivers and clerks. Government departments must be equipped to handle this challenge. I hope the Minister will consider to undertake this programme. Secondly, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is unfortunate that the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC), even after being revived, has still not met the aspirations of livestock farmers in this country. There seems to be lethargy and a lot of activities that go on but livestock farmers do not understand. If a livestock farmer has to bring his camel or cattle all the way from Mandera, which is nearly 2,000 kilometres away, by the time they reach the holding grounds at Athi River, you can imagine the loss that the animals will have suffered. There would be loss in terms of weight and everything that would have made the animal of value. Therefore, there is need to emphasize so much on KMC. There is need to decentralise it and get several satellite KMC centres. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am glad that there are plans to build an abattoir in Garissa and another one in Isiolo. However, we request that several other districts get covered. It is not enough to cover Garissa. The catchment area is so large that Garissa and Isiolo alone cannot undertake the challenges facing us. We require to build an abattoir in Wajir where we have a very big airport facility. It is perhaps the third largest airport facility in this country. If we utilise that, the whole of northern Kenya, particularly North Eastern Province, can easily export livestock products to the Middle East which is now one of the market outlets that we want the Government to emphasize on. There is, therefore, need for the Minister and his officials to visit Wajir and see, so that, instead of using the Port of Mombasa as the only exit point for our livestock products, we can also utilize the airport. It is a wonderful facility which is under-utilized. The Government can use it. If they do not, then we will just imagine the mindset still remains the same and that even the creation December 3, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3841 of the Ministry might have only had political implications but not to assist the livestock farmers in this country. Of course, there is the question of funds or credit that is given to fight PPR and many other diseases. We can also see whether we can get banks that give facilities to livestock farmers. Year in, year out, drought comes and destroys large herds of cattle, camel, sheep and goats that belong to those pastoral communities. But there is no possibility of those farmers getting financial support. If the coffee and tea farmers in this country are given sufficient back up, even when they incur losses- -- Their loans are written off! What makes the livestock industry or the livestock farmers different? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as it has been said here, 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from livestock farmers in this country. That is the contribution given by the pastoral communities and yet, in return, they get only 0.25 per cent! That is the kind of marginalisation that we have always complained about. Those are some of the things that can lead to insecurity. You feel that you are within a system, but you are a visitor within that system! It must be given priority! In the elections that we had last year, and following even the violence, many commentators and leaders were saying that there were under-currents or underlying factors that triggered the violence. It is because you feel that you have a system that is not fair and just! When you have resources and banks that service one particular economic industry and yet, the industry that contribute 80 per cent--- Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we suspend giving meat to Nairobi and other parts of Kenya, I can tell you there will be riots all over, just like the way people are rioting over food. But it is not seen until, perhaps, the farmers and the residents go up in arms and say: \"Beginning this month, we are not going to provide meat to the market.\" You can imagine the implications of that! Therefore, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, before we reach that stage, or before we feel let down by the Government, this policy must be able to translate itself into a very practical support for the pastoral farmers in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support the Motion and just before I finish, I would like to raise my last issue. The Minister and his officials must be very vigilant of the haphazard creation of locations, sub-locations and small units of administration which are destroying livestock farmers. Every time you create a location, sub-location or a settlement, there is no exit point for the pastoral farmer to go and herd his cattle, camel or sheep. That comes under the range management. Therefore, there is need for the Government, even as they do this, to be very vigilant so that we do not destroy the ecosystem. You know pastoralists have no boundaries. They live here. They go to Ethiopia. They come back from Ethiopia and go to-- That is why we have problems, at times, during the census. The pastoral community moves to where there is pasture, be it Somalia, Ethiopia or Uganda. They just move away. They do not care about Government policies! They come and do the census when they know that the people have moved in search of water. Those are the other things that we need the Ministry to be vigilant about! And I hope that this Ministry becomes a permanent feature in the Government in future. Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir."
}