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{
    "id": 187838,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/187838/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 237,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Ngugi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 112,
        "legal_name": "David Mwaniki Ngugi",
        "slug": "david-ngugi"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this important Motion on the Ministry of Energy. First of all, I would like to say that just like Ministry of Roads, this is one of the most important Ministries, because it is one of the drivers of the economy. If we look at education, it relies a lot on electricity supplied to schools, so that they are able to use computers and also study into the late hours. It is important to have energy in health centres and dispensaries in order for them to store drugs instead of having such facilities that cannot store them for a long duration of time. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we look at the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector which is one of the economies that have not been exploited in this country, it is driven by energy. This is why if we want to exploit the ICT sector in this country, we must improve our energy distribution so that we can exploit ICT. This is the reason why we need to look at the cost of electricity in this country. If we have to improve on our education, health and exploit ICT and other sectors, we must look at the cost because I consider the cost of electricity in this country to be too high and prohibitive, especially for the common mwananchi in the rural areas. It is for this reason that I would like to ask the Ministry to look at ways in which especially the rural areas can access cheaper costs of electricity. Possibly, we need to have a differentiated tariff between the rural areas and the urban areas. If we look at the generation of electricity, I am happy to see that the Ministry is looking at various sources from which we can generate electricity but I would like to narrow down on one area that I feel this country has not really exploited. If you go to Pakistan, you will see a lot of small hydro generation plants. In this country, we have so many small falls and rivers and yet we do not generate electricity from them. If we were to copy the example of Pakistan, then we can be able to provide electricity to some rural communities alongside these rivers and then we can release the main grid to be used commercially or in big towns. July 29, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2175 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would also ask this Ministry to encourage, especially the rural folks to generate energy from biogas. There is a system being supported by GTZ. I did so in my own house in 1984 and if it could be afforded to most Kenyans, then we can be able to light our houses and use it for other purposes and then it will be a cheaper source of energy. I do not want to belabour much on what has been said about the relationship between energy and the environment but if you look at how we have degraded our environment, then we can see why we are not able to generate much. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when I was growing up, we had big rivers in Kinangop and the whole of Nyandarua but now they are tiny masses of water. If we are able to protect our environment, then we will be able to generate more electricity at a cheaper cost instead of having to import it either from the Southern African Development Corporation (SADC) countries or from Uganda. We could be able to generate it ourselves. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is why I have always called for an inter- relationship between all ministries that do one kind of job. If you take the Ministry of Environment and Minerals and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation---"
}