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{
    "id": 179829,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/179829/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 302,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Onyonka",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 128,
        "legal_name": "Richard Momoima Onyonka",
        "slug": "richard-onyonka"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I had about three issues which I wanted to raise. First of all, I said that I support the Motion. One of the things I have noticed about our country is that, as I said earlier, we are not sincere about issues and we never come out clearly to discuss them as openly as we should. I am willing to thank my colleague, Mr. C. Kilonzo, for having raised the very critical issues. For example, you notice that Prof. Maathai got the Nobel Prize for being an environmentalist, yet we hardly give appreciation to what she stands for. We hardly recognise that she has been somebody who has fought and stood for these issues over the years. You realise that we have the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) which was created. Every time NEMA goes out to effect anything, there are always issues which are brought up, and it is always in court to defend even what is the obvious. 3406 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 12, 2008 I do not know whether many hon. Members in this House appreciate the fact that UNEP is situated in Nairobi. It means that our standards must be very high in terms of environmental protection and issues. As Mr. Chanzu has said, every single report on the environment in Kenya has been written, indeed, for the whole of Africa. Some of the best experts in environmental matters are Kenyans, yet every time we have had environmental issues, we have not had any solutions. The truth is the globe is warming up; any of you who might be having doubts, needs to go to Mt. Kenya region. The snow which used to be on top of Mt. Kenya is no longer there! So, the mountain is now becoming dry and it is no longer a tourist attraction. We used to say in years past how Mt. Kenya was a mountain in the tropics with snow on top of it. We are aware that, that was the position. When you look at vehicle emissions, the Government of Kenya does not have a policy on how we are going to control vehicle emissions from the vehicles, which are brought into this country. I do not know whether we have a policy or not. How do we control and manage vehicle emissions? These are critical issues in this country that I think we need to raise. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue is that we have not set up a moratorium on hydrocarbons. A small country like Rwanda no longer uses plastic bags, yet a country like Kenya is, in fact, using them. So, we have very critical issues. I would like to support the Motion and thank the Mover for having given me his three minutes. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}