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"id": 187836,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. C. Onyancha",
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"legal_name": "Charles Onyancha",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am going to try and be very brief; in the near future I will try to be tall so that you can notice me. I will focus on sequencing with regard to the Vote for the Ministry of Energy. While supporting the Motion, I would like to say the following. First of all is that I am very satisfied, like many other hon. Members, with the good work being done by the Ministry. There is a lot of co- operation between the Minister and his parastatals, the Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the independent power producers (IPPs); I am sure that with that sort of co-operation, we shall receive the good service we expect. I talked about sequencing. Our economy is not very strong; we are not a rich country. Of course, we have very scarce resources, but we try to spread them very thinly, and as a result, we really do not get anywhere. My proposal to the hon. Minister is that the Ministry in future, being one of the foremost Ministries in terms of development, should propose to the Treasury a much larger budget for Development. This Kshs6.3 billion is very little, because one of the smaller IPP that I am acquainted with is actually putting about the same amount this year into generation of power in this country. I would like to propose that we triple or quadruple the budget for the Ministry of Energy in the ensuing year; if we want to meet our goals for Vision 2030 and develop, we must have power. Power generation and development takes time. If we are going to start scrambling for it when industry needs have surpassed what we can generate, then we will definitely fail in our goal and we should not have such an intention. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the same issue of sequencing, I have noticed that the Kenya Pipeline Company is extending its pipeline further into Uganda and, hopefully, into Rwanda. But I would also like to propose - subject to funds being availed from the Treasury next year - that we extend the pipeline to other smaller towns and provincial headquarters, so as to ameliorate the burden on the roads. There is no need for us to build and repair roads that do not last for even five years, because of the heavy tonnage ferried on them by oil tankers. I am a shareholder in a small company called KenGen, and I wanted to contribute towards the particular issue of that company's development. Of course, other than stating that the budget for it is too small for power generation, I am aware that there is a re-engineering exercise going on. July 29, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2173 Co-operate re-engineering is a very touchy subject for many people. We do not want change in this country. There is always resistance, but if we do not change with the times, we shall definitely fail. There are a lot of savings we can make from corporate re-engineering. In this regard, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have been following this case because of my personal and my constituents' interest as shareholders of that company. I know that we have a very professional team handling the exercise, but because of my interest I have realised that the responses from the Ministry to that company are not fast enough. Therefore, while I acknowledge the Ministry's efficiency, it should hurry up so that we can complete the exercise of re-engineering, so that, we, shareholders, can get more dividends from the savings that will emanate from there. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me now talk about an issue which touches many Kenyans. That is rural electrification. We have heard statements in this House to the effect that in certain areas, all secondary schools have already been served with electricity. I would like to state that, that may be the intention, but it has not yet been attained. Therefore, this exercise should be completed quickly, and when the Minister comes to respond to issues raised in this House, he does so with proven facts and not facts that can be proven otherwise. Let me now touch on the future of this country with regard to water, because water has a bearing on energy. The 30 metre reserve may appear to be very large, but for our own survival, it is something which we must enforce throughout our country. This is an issue which the Minister for Energy cannot handle. So, I would beg that other Ministries, including the Ministry of Provincial Administration and Internal Security, and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, get involved in this affair, so that we can save our environment and have enough water to generate electricity in future. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, lastly, talking about coal, we have heard day in, day out, Mr. Musila and others raising the issue of existence of coal in Mwingi District. We would like this Ministry to look into that issue urgently, so that we do not get into a situation where we are not utilising our own resources and having to import oil when we could create so many jobs by going into coal mining. With those few remarks, I want to once more congratulate the Ministry and the parastatals under it for their efficiency and support the Motion. Thank you."
}