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"speaker_name": "Mrs. Shebesh",
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"content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I will go straight into the issue of the civil society. I come from a background of civil society and I think there is a misconception that the civil society is against this Bill. We must realise that even within the civil society, there are civil societies that are conscious of the realities of the day. There are those who are there to promote the agendas of multinationals. Let us be very clear. We do not want to have a blanket condemnation of the civil society. I believe that there is a civil society that knows its place. This Bill has been in the public domain. It has gone through stages which civil societies are aware of. If they had any issues that they wanted to raise, they would have appeared before the Committee that is headed by hon. Koech and raised their issues there. But they did not. Therefore, let us not give a blanket condemnation on the civil society. I believe the civil society is the conscience of the people and we have a very responsible group of civil societies. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I must also speak about our role here as legislators. I see an attempt by some of my colleagues to become scientists. We do have a role, which is to enact law or to look at the laws that are already in place but have gaps and amend them. That is our role. We should leave the work of scientists to them. If the Government has brought a Bill here, a Government which we respect, we are all part of and we believe is responsible, we should be looking at our role as legislators, which is to enact a law that allows scientific data to become part and parcel of Kenyans' lives. Let us not criss-cross the divide too much, because then we shall lose the focus as to why we were elected, and why we represent Kenyans in this House. To me, a vacuum allows corruption and we are now in a vacuum in terms of the law that deals with this issue. We have brought the Biosafety Bill here, because there was a vacuum in the law. As legislators, we cannot allow a vacuum in the law so long as we have enough breath. That is why we are here. Our role is to interrogate this Bill, and look at the gaps within the law. The gaps might allow corruption or negative impact on people's health and that is what we should be looking at. I think we are being unfair to the professionals in this country, who are really the most respected, not only in Africa but in the world. I have been to conferences where I found professors of Kenyan origin giving lectures on great issues; I wonder why, as Kenyans, we are the first to raise December 2, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3775 doubts about our scientists when the rest of the world is embracing them. Let us be a bit sincere, and do the job that Kenyans have given us. Even as we speak about the risks involved, let us also be sincere about the risks other technologies bring on board. Look at the mobile phones. Everybody says that they are risky but we continue using them. We have not stopped Kenyans from using them either. Look at the cosmetics that we women use. They are labelled as the riskiest, but we continue to ingest them so that we can be light-skinned, but no one arrests us for doing that. Now, you want a Kenyan woman to watch her child die because of a risk that is not even guaranteed. I think the most painful way to die is out of starvation. Do we want to do that to Kenyans? We do not want to create a legal framework in which to address these issues. I think we will be letting down Kenyans. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to look at what Kenyans are eating now. In Githurai, sukuma wiki is grown in sewage and it is sold on the street as the most green sukumawiki . I am sure you have seen it, but it is grown in the sewage. In Githurai and Kasarani, we do not have sewage systems. So, that is how our young Kenyans, who have no jobs, have become so ingenious; they grow sukuma wiki and we are eating it. So, what is more risky? Sukuma wiki grown in sewage or a tomato that has been modified? I would rather eat the tomato. But for now, I have been eating the sukuma wiki . I am saying that all the risks that we are talking about, we should be realistic about them. We have been talking about food crisis in this Parliament. We had a hot debate yesterday about food security, and today the same Members of Parliament are raising issues on how to bring on board the very issue that we were debating yesterday. We must speak in one voice. That is why I am asking for collective responsibility, not only in the Government but also in Parliament on issues that are of national interest. Let us not play with issues of national interest like food and health. Science is going to impact even on our health, education and anything that we want to improve. If we start having problems with science now, when we want the next machine that can check whether I am about to have a heart attack, are we going to say that we do not want it, because it is too scientific and we do not understand where it came from? Science is not a curse. A curse is allowing your people to die because you are fearing to embrace change. I do not want to be part of a group of people who refuse to embrace change in exchange for hunger and suffering. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the other day, I was watching television, and I saw a woman in Baringo boiling some wild fruits for ten hours. The reporter said that it was boiled for ten hours because the fruit was poisonous. But since she was so hungry she knew that within the fruit there was something that she could eat. So, she boiled it for ten hours and removed the poisonous cover, and then fed her children with it. So, what I am saying is that in Baringo, ten hours to boil a fruit is what we would rather advocate for than advocate for a seed that she can use to grow food in three months for her children. To me, it is not even science; it is basic common sense and the realities of what we face today. Let us not become scientists because many of us are not. Let us not also do the work of the civil society. I came from the civil society, but I do not do the work for them. What I do, as a responsible hon. Member is to guide the civil society. I tell them that if they have an issue bring it to this or that forum. There are Committees of Parliament, or they can even request a Member of Parliament to seek a Ministerial Statement. There are many issues in which the civil society can be involved. It is misleading to say that there is no way that we can involve the public. When I was coming to this House I thought the same thing that one of the hon. Members has said; we have been listening to many people lobbying. The truth of the matter is how the public will be involved. Clauses 19, 4 and 5 show how the public will be involved. I was also convinced that there was no way the public would be involved, because I had not looked at this document in totality. I am not 3776 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES December 2, 2008 also a scientist to be able to digest it. So, let us do the job that Kenyans want us to do. With those few remarks, I support the Bill."
}