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"id": 187835,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/187835/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Nanok",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Forestry and Wildlife",
"speaker": {
"id": 57,
"legal_name": "Josephat Koli Nanok",
"slug": "josephat-nanok"
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"content": " Thank you Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute on this Motion. I fully support the Motion. July 29, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2171 I have a few brief points to make. First, the work the Ministry has done for the last two years is commendable. This is particularly so with rural electrification. Electricity has been supplied even to areas where we have had hydro-electric power projects but without electricity. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the place I come from, Turkana South, we have the famous Turkwel Gorge Hydro-Electric Project. After 15 years, it is only last year that we actually benefited from rural electrification in Kainuk Town. Unfortunately, 200 meters away from the power project, we have a village town that up to now is still in darkness. I urge the Ministry to look into this matter so that we do not have communities feeling marginalised by not benefiting from resources produced from their locality. These resources benefit communities far away. This will help minimise the sort of conflict and disgruntlement that these communities could be having with the power generating companies. I would like to belabour the point that most of our power comes from hydro-electricity. It is, therefore, important to conserve water catchment areas. It is important that the Ministry of Energy puts a lot of focus in supporting the Ministries responsible for conservation of all the key water catchment areas. I would like the Minister to work very closely with them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is also good to look at the alternative sources of energy. I know you have allocated funds and I am glad that it is only this year that there has been a lot of focus to expand on renewable sources of energy. We know that the bottom of the Rift Valley has a huge potential for geo-thermal. Up to now, it is less than 20 per cent exploited around Olkaria. Let us consider other areas that have a huge potential, for instance, Suguta Valley around Kapedo, such an area has a huge potential for production of geo-thermal power. I hope that we can re-look at this issue once again. Others include the wind energy and solar energy. The Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) temperatures are as high as 35 degrees centigrade everyday. This is wasted energy. As we see the rise in the price of diesel, we have to fully exploit these other sources of energy. These include bio- fuel particularly the Jatropher. During the first week of June, I managed to attend an open day discussion on Jatropher that was organised by the Forest Society of Kenya (FSK) at the National Museums of Kenya (NMK). I did not see anyone from the Ministry of Energy although we have been talking about Jatropher being an alternative source of energy. It is high time that, not only the Ministry of Energy, but all the other stakeholders including the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, worked in tandem to exploit this resource and make sure that the areas with the highest potential in the ASAL, these particular crop is grown. The most important thing is the regulation of the production of Jatropher. We realise that about 10,000 acres of Jatropher is grown by private farmers, but the industry has not been regulated. I would really urge the Ministry to take the lead in ensuring that we have quality control in this area. We also need to provide the oil press required so that Kenyans can benefit much more from this. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to corporate social responsibilities, in areas where we are producing power, for example, Turkwel where we have the Turkwel Gorge Geothermal Power Station--- Forgive me if I am wrong, but I am sure it generates more than Kshs900 million every year. What is ploughed back to the community is less than 2 per cent of that money. So, let us look at this matter very closely so that, at least, we make sure that the communities living within where we generate power benefit out of it. The other issue I would like to talk about is the cost of diesel. Indeed, the cost of diesel is very high. In marginal areas like Turkana, the price of one litre of diesel ranges between Kshs120 and Kshs140. Many years ago, the Turkanas used to walk a lot. Hardly had they began to enjoy the benefit of using vehicles when the price of diesel went up. The cost of using vehicles has gone up. A number of Turkanas have now thought of abandoning their vehicles and reverting to walking. That is why we really have to re-look at oil exploration. I know that we have a huge potential of oil 2172 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 29, 2008 deposits in Turkana. Let us not issue exploration rights in secrecy. Let us make sure that the communities and local authorities are also involved. When the Ministry discusses with the private oil companies, the local authorities and communities on the ground should be advised much earlier so that we avoid problems that we have seen occurring in countries like Nigeria. One day, when we shall have oil, those communities will benefit from it. We should not end up having oil as a source of conflict. That is what is happening in some countries where oil is produced. The local communities do not benefit and they are, therefore, rising up in arms. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there was talk one time about a second transport corridor that would link Sudan to Kenya. There was also talk of establishing a second pipeline so that we could take advantage of the crude oil that is in Southern Sudan. We need to re-look this issue. As we improve the Mombasa Petroleum Refinery, let us think of the second refinery that was proposed to be constructed in Lamu. With regard to distribution of solar power to all secondary schools, a couple of weeks ago, I had discussions with the Permanent Secretary and I was told that they had connected all secondary schools with solar power. However, I realised that in my constituency, out of the five secondary schools that exist, only two have been connected with solar power. I hope that the Kshs300 million that has been provided for this purpose will light up the remaining secondary schools. So, I hope the Kshs300 million that has been provided will be able to light up the remaining secondary schools. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}