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"id": 187831,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Muthama",
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"legal_name": "Johnson Nduya Muthama",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to make a few comments on the Vote of the Ministry of Energy. First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister for the great effort he has made, especially in making sure that almost every district is allocated some funds. We are very much concerned about the issue of infrastructure, electricity being one of them. We have been having problems with electricity. It is my understanding that if the current drought goes beyond the expected end time, which is 15th October, 2008 and stretched up to mid November, 2008, we will definitely have problems with the generation of electricity. It has happened before and may happen again. I do congratulate the Minister for his great efforts and for his willingness to make sure that we have sufficient electricity supply. At the same time, I want to caution the Ministry that they need to work round the clock. We need to move from an era of expecting anything to one where there is a guarantee of getting something. We have technicians and whatever else it takes. We have a country with resources. We have main rivers, where dams can be built, which can not only be used to supply electricity but can also be used to provide water to the most dry areas. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am saying this because Athi and Tana rivers pass through the whole of Eastern Province. They flow all the way to the Indian Ocean. The supply of electricity from Kindaruma and Kamburu is due to damming. More dams should be created. It will 2168 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 29, 2008 be next to impossible to achieve this if we just celebrate the allocation of these funds. Once equipment is installed, then it can be possible to achieve this. We need these services. Currently, my constituency which draws power from Thika via Kindaruma and Kamburu experiences blackouts every two hours. We have never experienced continuous supply of electricity. One of the main issues the Minister is planning to undertake is the expansion and upgrading of energy sources. This is an issue that needs to be taken very seriously. The Minister confessed today in his speech that 80 per cent of Kenyans are yet to receive electricity. This 80 per cent that lacks access to electricity is not because it is not available but because another 20 per cent cannot afford to pay the connection fees of the same. Poverty levels in this country stretch up to the point where the Minster has said that the local people are being forced to use cow dung to cook meals. They go ahead and also collect firewood and in the process the environment is destroyed. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I kindly request the Minister to focus on building dams so that people who live in the surrounding areas can use that water for farming. They can grow vegetables and generate income and then be able to install electricity in their houses. Sometimes, those houses are not available. You cannot expect local wananchi with grass houses to instal electricity in their houses. However, with the necessary support and good vision, that can be achieved. For us to talk about electricity, we should also talk of paraffin which is a great commodity that is not affordable to the common mwananchi. It is next to impossible for them to afford that item. We know this Government has spent a lot of money in prospecting for oil. I have got some good experience in that area because I have looked at the statistics, analysis and some of the results which have taken place 15 to 20 years and a lot of money has been spent but I do not think that proper exploration in our energy sector has been done. We have oil in Southern Sudan which could be drawn to Kenya. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Tanzania, which is on the other side of Kenya, has found a great potential of gas and oil. That is also happening in Uganda. In the small Somaliland, with the exception of the big Somalia, there is a talk going round that they have found oil. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think it is time that this country should stop taking things for granted when it comes to energy. There is no way energy can be taken for granted! It must be given all the seriousness that it deserves. The reason why I am saying that is because today, if we want to improve the teaching and studies of our students, our schools, public and learning institutions must have electricity. Forget about our houses and homes! It will be a waste of time if we lack electricity in our district hospitals, dispensaries and clinics. We will be offering half-baked services, which are not adequate to our people. So, when it comes to prospecting for oil, our money should be spent properly. I know that with seriousness, we will find oil in this country! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there was a time when Kenya was referred in geological information not to contain precious metals. But today, Kenyans, me being one of them, have proved the world to have the wrong perception! We have precious metals within our country; they have been explored and tested, and they have turned out to be one of the best qualities in this world. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is only the other day when we talked about titanium in the Coast Province. We have fluorspar in Kerio Valley here with a huge potential. The Government has to consider some of those minerals when trading with some of the countries which could be using our minerals like fluorspar, titanium and other precious metals. The Government could consider trading those minerals for oil, so that we can be able to generate cheap electricity. Today, even if we actually talk of drilling boreholes and giving them to common wananchi, they are just white elephants! That is because when you drill a borehole in a village where, when a July 29, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2169 thousand people are put together, their income does not amount to Kshs20,000--- For them to pump that water from that borehole using electricity, they will need Kshs40,000! So, you will---"
}