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"id": 187830,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/187830/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Chanzu",
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"speaker": {
"id": 11,
"legal_name": "Yusuf Kifuma Chanzu",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to support this very important Vote. I just want to agree with the sentiments raised by previous speakers on this Vote. First, I want to congratulate them for being transparent in what they are doing now. For instance, the booklet that they have published, indicating the amounts of money allocated to every district, is a very noble idea. That way, we can know in advance how much money has been allocated to each Ministry. However, they probably need to spend a bit of time to do more in future, so that they can get realistic figures to put in that booklet. This is the tradition that has been used by Treasury over the years in allocating money to the various sectors of the economy. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you look at the Printed Estimates, you will see that they have put something like Kshs5 million together for a particular purpose across the board, which appears to be guess work. I know that there is a starting point for everything. This is very encouraging. They have to do much more, so that they can come up with realistic figures, instead of coming up with figures which just cut across and look the same because since Independence, development in this country has not been uniform. There are some areas which have more electricity and others which do not have any electricity. For instance, in Vihiga District, where I come from, two constituencies have been given Kshs12 million. The neighbouring constituency, which is almost the same - which is now a district of its own - has been given slightly more. I know that there was a time when there was rationalisation and retrenchment of staff in the Civil Service. I happened to be an Assistant Minister in that Ministry at that time. I was wondering why a Ministry like the Ministry of Energy, which requires more staff, should be asked to retrench. We would like this Ministry to have more members of staff than what they have today, so that they can do a lot of work on the ground for Kenyans. The Minister talked about wood fuel. It is encouraging, but I do not see a lot of afforestation taking place in this country. We would like to put in more money in that area. There must be sufficient collaboration amongst the Ministries of Energy, Environment and Mineral Resources, and Forestry and Wildlife. Another thing we have experienced in the area around Vihiga, is power outages. I think this is happening because of a number of factors, including maintenance problems, lack of equipment, machinery and even transport for engineers to be able to move around very quickly to rectify whatever fault there may be. Of course, the other problem is what has been addressed here; the amount of electric power that we are producing viz-a-viz the demand. In the western part of Kenya which constitutes July 29, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2167 Nyanza, Western and part of Rift Valley provinces, there are many rivers. I do not know whether my friends here can consider looking into the possibility of undertaking some of the main hydro- electricity projects in that region in order to augment the supply of electricity to the national grid. There are rivers like Nzoia, Yala, Sondu and others in the Rift Valley, like the one which supplies the areas around Chabera. As we all know, electricity is very important if we are to industrialise. That is the direction we are taking. Talking of Vision 2030, if we have electricity in all the rural areas, it will be easier for practitioners in the Jua Kali sector to prosper. We have given examples of the Jua Kali workshops we have within Shauri Moyo and Gikomba areas in Nairobi. If you go there, you will find a lot of activities going on. We would like that to be replicated in most parts of the country for purposes of creating employment, and for being able to get items that can be produced locally much more easily rather than thinking of buying things which are imported. Another thing I would like to say is to further congratulate the Ministry, together with the parastatals which fall under the Ministry, because there was a time when only one or two persons decided on who was going to get electricity in this country. I am happy that today it cuts across the board. Everybody knows what is going on. That was the time when we had vested interests, but the way things are going on today, I do not think there is that interest. I commend the Minister and the Ministry staff. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, regarding the issue of the exploration of oil, we have talked about it at great length. I do not see why we cannot invest some money in looking for oil for ourselves, because we are within a region where almost every country around us has its own oil. In future, I would like the Ministry to consider putting more money into exploration of oil and other sources of energy. There is a tendency for us to go for easier options. That is the reason why we do not take enough time to go and look into what is called renewable energy. Finally, a few years back we had drought and a problem with electricity, because there was a lot of power-rationing. The current Permanent Secretary was in charge of planning in the Ministry and he saw what happened. We would like a situation whereby the Ministry takes precautions. I know that the Prime Minister talked about it, but we would like to put in place some measures just in case something happens. We should not get into a situation where we become like beggars. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}