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"id": 187540,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/187540/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kiunjuri",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Water and Irrigation",
"speaker": {
"id": 175,
"legal_name": "Festus Mwangi Kiunjuri",
"slug": "mwangi-kiunjuri"
},
"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to make my contribution and support this Ministry which is really important in many issues touching on the development of this country. It is also a Ministry with very able officers. I happened to work there for five years and nobody can doubt their ability to perform. If I were to gauge the ministries in performance contracting, I would award them the first slot because its effects have always been felt across the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, having said that, it is now important for this House to collectively take this challenge which is really traumatising Kenyans. This is one challenge which if not addressed, will make the economy of this country come to a halt bearing in mind that anything we do in this country revolves around the oil industry. If you look at the fuel prices in this country and compare them with those the world over, you will agree with me that something is really going wrong. I believe it is high time something was done, even if it requires more legislation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, although we passed the Energy Bill last year in this House, if the Minister requires more powers, it is high time we addressed this crisis as a matter of emergency. Otherwise, anything that we speak of and even if we dream of Vision 2030, and this question of energy, that is both fuel and hydro power, is not addressed, then Vision 2030 will be a pipe dream. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you look at the fuel industry, the only saviour for this country could be the National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK). Today, they have been subjected to equal competition with other multinationals which have an added advantage. Some of them have their refineries abroad where they can be able to process oil and bring it cheaply here. When you subject the NOCK and independent distributors - those with small petrol stations - to the open tender system, you will always come to realise that NOCK will never win in that process. There are some multinationals that play magic like the Kenol Kobil who always win the open tender system. What surprises Kenyans is that whenever the small distributors, that is the owners of one petrol station win in the open tender system, by the time the fuel arrives at Mombasa, the prices are higher than the fuel prices that the multinationals have in their petrol stations. That automatically tells you that there is a cartel and I am talking out of facts that it has happened and it is happening. Unless we strengthen the NOCK, we will continue suffering. As the NOCK expands, it should take care of our small distributors with one or two petrol stations. They should be allowed to fall in the same category with NOCK and affirmative action be taken so that we ensure we do not kill our local investors. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, today, most of the petrol stations owned by individuals in this country are closing down. Why are they closing down? Today, if you moved to the Caltex depot in the Industrial Area and bought fuel there, the price that you will get from the depot is higher than the price that you can have at a petrol station of Caltex or Kenol Kobil in Kisumu and in Nairobi. If this is not a cartel, how would you describe this, whereby you are supposed to buy oil in high quantities, that is in wholesale, but the wholesaler is selling the goods at a higher price than in his retail shop? That will tell you automatically that we want to kill small investors and our own people for the sake of the multinationals. Some of the multinationals owe the Kenya Refineries Company more than Kshs1.8 billion and you wonder whether they are sacred cows. These include the Kenol Kobil and OiLibya who are the larger retailers in the market. They are not footing the bills there which can be able to benefit other Kenyans but they are continuing to dispense. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for the first time, Kenyans must now demand for their 2244 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 30, 2008 rights and they can only do so through this House; that the laws be enhanced to give the Minister for Energy teeth so that he can be able to strengthen the Ministry and at the same time, make sure that he does not kill our industry. On the issue of electricity, we cannot talk of production of power through hydro when we still continue behaving the way we are doing by asking our people to remain in the Mau Forest. The issue of the Mau is very clear and I even wondered why Mr. Midiwo was trying to substantiate on issues that are already on the Floor of this House. We know who are the owners of those huge tracts of land in Mau. They are Members of Parliament seated here in this House and I challenge you to ask me to do that because it is your responsibility as a Member of Parliament to know that. Come here and read the Ndung'u Report and you will come to know who are the thieves who took all the huge tracts of land and sold them to the peasants. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, those people in Mau are suffering because some of us seated in this House took huge tracts of land, subdivided it, sold it to them and gave them title deeds. Today, we are shedding crocodile tears just because you are the leaders and you want to shout from the rooftops that your people are being oppressed. The Government is responsible and should give these peasants, who have title deeds, land but at the same time, the law should apply. There are those who were kicked out of Enoosupukia. Let us talk about them. There are those people who were kicked out of Mount Kenya in the 1988 and 1989. There are also those who were kicked out of Aberdare and those who are being kicked out of Mount Elgon. The law should not apply selectively and, therefore, the issue of the Mau Forest should be approached by sober people so that first of all we save the forest. Today, we are experiencing a lot of flash floods downstream, water run-off and desertification. The forest is already gone because we do not want to take responsibility as leaders but we want to politicise everything. For us to save the hydro energy sector, we must agree as leaders to be fully responsible for what we say and our actions. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, electricity has become a problem and even where we have distribution, we cannot be able to siphon it because of transformers."
}