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"id": 189257,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Muthama",
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"legal_name": "Johnson Nduya Muthama",
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"content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I also take this opportunity to make my contribution towards this Motion, which raises the issue of Cherangany Hills. It delights me and gives me a lot of strength when I see anything that touches on our natural resources. My line of operation is in natural resources, particularly mining. The issue here touches on our natural resources, more so, trees and water. I come from Eastern Province. It is a very dry area. Most parts of Eastern Province are dry. We have been struggling, begging, praying and asking the Government to provide water to the people of Eastern Province and other areas in the Republic of Kenya. Water is life. We are talking about a natural gift that was given to us by our Creator. Every creature needs water to survive. I do not see how the Government can allow people to destroy Cherangany Hills and then make efforts to provide water in areas where there is no water. If we want to be serious as legislators and citizens of this country, it is my conviction that, first of all, we must preserve and protect what we have. Even if we start looking for ways and means of establishing more facilities, especially water, we would have preserved what is already there. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, let me touch on the issue of streams. A certain region in this country has many permanent streams and yet, there are people who are seeking to be allowed to move in there and cause destruction. I fail to understand that. Are those Kenyans serious? Do they love this country? Is it lack of knowledge? If it is lack of knowledge, funds should be set aside to provide civic education to our citizens, so that they can understand what it really means to protect our natural resources. Africa is gifted with natural resources. I have toured many countries in the world. In many countries, especially in Europe and the United States of America, natural resources are conserved. Every creature is protected. For us to move forward, the Government should take serious initiatives to protect our streams. Secondly, felling trees to burn charcoal and produce timber has completely destroyed our trees. We know that some measures have been put in place to stop logging, but of great concern is the fact that the law is not being followed. The rules are not followed. In one month, we hear that people are not being licensed to fell down trees. In the next month, we hear that people are being licensed to so do. The other day, we heard that the Minister had banned cutting down of trees. The following day, we heard that the ban had been lifted in certain areas. If the Minister is serious, he should apply a strict ban that will not be lifted just for the sake of raising money from licences. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we are talking about our youths not having jobs. Why can the Ministry not fund our youths to plant trees all over the country? By so doing, we will have created jobs for our youths. It is us who should make this country a better place for humankind. We have to volunteer ourselves. We have to do the work ourselves. We have to contribute towards this end because nobody will come and do it for us. If you walk in any primary or secondary school in this country today, you will find that there are no trees. Teachers do not encourage pupils and students to plant trees in schools' compound. They must be sensitised if we want to improve our forest cover in this country. Some chiefs and even some District Commissioners (DCs) have their offices in compounds where there are no trees whatsoever. It is the responsibility of the Government to give civic education to all the 1868 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 16, 2008 administrators. We should plant trees through teachers, assistant chiefs, chiefs and District Commissioners, so that we can create an acceptable environment. The leaders of town, county and municipal councils and some cities have failed completely to implement the policy of planting trees. If there are no trees in our human settlements, the only places that appear to have trees is a place like Cherangany Hills and it becomes a target for destruction. I suggest that civic education should be given to our people. We should show some seriousness in the issue of planting trees. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}