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"legal_name": "Rachel Wambui Shebesh",
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"content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to thank you. I want to support this Motion and, of course, congratulate the Member of Parliament for Budalangi, Ababu Namwamba, for bringing this Motion that, definitely, touches at the core of his constituency. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to agree with many of the speakers who have said that Budalangi is not only known in Kenya because of the disasters that it has gone through, but it is actually known internationally! I know I have watched Cable News Network (CNN) many times and I have seen Budalangi being shown there. That is when the international community wants to show examples of where flooding is devastating the lives of people. Therefore, I think this is not an issue that should even really elicit a lot of questioning because it is, obviously, straightforward. It is something that should have been done yesterday, and not even today, for the sake of the people of Budalangi who have gone through that disaster. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for me, compensation for somebody who has gone through some kind of disaster or a victim should never be a favour. To me, it is their right! To me, it is important for Kenyans to understand that when something happens to us in terms of a disaster in this country that is not of the making of the Kenyans themselves, the Government does have moral responsibility to compensate its people and to ensure that their lives can continue; their livelihoods can continue and that they can engage in some kind of meaningful productive life. Therefore, for me, compensation should never be an issue of legalities. I want to agree with the previous speaker that legalities have a way of always blocking good intentions. I want the Ministry of Water and Irrigation to look above the legalities and see the moral obligations of the Government to its citizenry. That is because, at the end of the day, that, to me, is what is more important than legal issues which, I know, can be overcome once there is total commitment to help the people! But, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to pick up from what I have heard today, when hon. Namwamba was moving his Motion. That has really saddened me! Corruption is going to kill this country! Corruption is going to kill us! That is because we always think that corruption is in big issues like Grand Regency and Anglo Leasing. But, today, we have discovered that corruption is in flooding in Budalangi! Really, if a Government should resign en masse, it is any Government that has abetted corruption and allowed the people in Budalangi to die, simply because some people must line their pockets in terms of the construction of the dykes, or any kind of corruption that went through the system that ensured that year after year--- The Government ensured that the people of Budalangi were displaced, lost their lives and homes because it knew that there was corruption in the manner in which those dykes were being constructed. For me, that, definitely, calls for really--- You know, to me, it is criminal for any Government to know that its people, at a certain time when the rains come, will die or go through some kind of crisis and yet, it knows the underlying problem is corruption! That is why, for me, this Grand Coalition Government must take the bull by the horns! Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we came together as two parties, PNU and ODM, and our manifestos were quite clear! The ODM manifesto was really socialist; it was really about people; caring for the people and the citizenry. That was where we were going to concentrate. Right now, I am not sure whether that is the concentration of this Government any more. I do not 2744 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 15, 2008 know the manifesto of PNU very well. But what I do know is that, if Kenyans could allow two competing parties to change the Constitution so that they could share positions and power, then they owe it to the Kenyans to look critically at the issues that have bedeviled them over the years when we were competing--- That is because we are now supposed to be in a marriage of convenience where there should be a honeymoon period even for Kenyans! If this is the time we can say two sides are sitting together on the same table, then this is also the time that Kenyans must breathe! This is the time that Kenyans must benefit! Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for me, the people of Budalangi must be the example that we set. It is unfair that a Government cannot listen to its people! Hon. Ababu has said clearly that when the people of Budalangi raised the issue of the construction and the corruption they were seeing, the response from the then Government officials was: \"These are laymen who do not know what they are saying\". I want to highlight that when, recently, I saw the community from Tana River expressing a lot of discomfort about something that was going to happen there, again, I was afraid that the Government will not listen to its people! The other day, we saw farmers uprooting their tea. Is the Government listening to why farmers are uprooting their tea? Is the Government listening to the residents of Embakasi about the Dandora Dumping Site, which is killing children? There is evidence that children who live around Embakasi and in Dandora are sick because of the Dandora Dumping Site! Whenever those people take those issues to the Government, the Government does not listen! How long will the Government refuse to listen to its people? For how long, as Members of Parliament, are we going to allow the Government not to listen to its people? More specifically, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we have a Ministry of Special Programmes now. I have never understood what are the Ministry's policies, guidelines or mandate. We can have disasters even when we have a Ministry of Special Programmes! Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I wonder whether in this Ministry there is a department for disaster management, which should be responsible for the issue of flooding, in which case its first responsibility would be Budalangi. Does it have the mandate of compensation? I would want to know how the amount of Kshs10,000 compensation for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) was arrived at. With all due respect, I have no idea what a person who has lost a home is supposed to do with Kshs10,000. Was this decision made at Cabinet-level? Was it a Ministerial position? Is it the Government policy? How is compensation arrived at? Is it under the Ministry of State for Special Programmes? Is it under the Cabinet? Is it under the President? We have no idea. We are working in a Government where, even we, as Members of Parliament, cannot give clarity as to where issues are being addressed. That is a disaster. It is actually a warning sign that we, definitely, need to get our act together in terms of delivery of service to our people. If we are looking at the management of disaster as a national issue--- Budalangi is in Kenya. Not in Uganda. Why is it that we can rush to compensate people in other areas of this country, when we have problems? We rushed the other day to give farmers free fertilizers, and other things, because of the political instability. I agree that it is important to do so, but is it not just as important to compensate the people of Budalangi, who have been IDPs for so many years? I cannot even tell for how many years they have been IDPs. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, what we are saying is that politics of regionalism must end in this country. If you are the President of this country, at no time, should you look like you only act when there is a disaster in the areas that affect you politically. We want to see commitment from this Government. This Motion is a good chance for the Grand Coalition Government to show us that they care for every region in this country. Budalangi will be the first. We will then go to the North Eastern Province, where drought is about to hit pastoralists. We know that livestock will die. We only talked about livestock insurance. Where is the livestock insurance for these people? We October 15, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2745 need to start listening to people. We need to know the disasters that are in this country. Let us not do management by crisis. That is not the way for a Government to work. A government is supposed to be organised. It is supposed to have a work plan and know what it is doing. As I said, let us look at the Ministries critically, and see what is overlapping where. We do not want blame to be shifted from one Ministry to another. I am sure the Minister in charge will stand to respond, but I cannot see her here. She might even shift this problem to the Ministry of State for Special Projects or to the Ministry of Public Works, because of buildings. We want the Government to take responsibility. I support this issue. To me, it must be the beginning. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, it must be the door that is opening towards making sure that disasters happening to Kenyans for no fault of their own, but due to natural occurrences or lack of commitment by the Government, must be compensated. People's livelihoods must be restored and faith in the system of Government that we have, as well as faith in the leadership that we have in this country, must be restored. Let us start with the people of Budalangi. I beg to support."
}