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"id": 197294,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Munyes",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Water and Irrigation",
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"legal_name": "John Kiyonga Munyes",
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"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to first thank the people of Turkana North Constituency for electing me to this House for the third term. I would also like to thank the whole FORD(K) fraternity for the support I have received from it since I joined Parliament. Mr. Speaker, Sir, secondly, I would like to thank you for being elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly during this challenging time. You have proved that you can control the House and run its affairs the right way at a time when we really need reconciliation and working in unity. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Presidential Address. Debate on it resumed after we passed the two Bills yesterday, the National Accord and Reconciliation Bill and the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2008. These have given us the much awaited spirit of change that Kenyans wanted. I think change has now come to this country. For the first time, the people of Kenya will talk as brothers and sisters, and try to co-exist and support each other. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we look forward to a time when we will get the Grand Coalition. For the first time we want to see resources getting decentralised to all the regions of this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank the President for his good Address that I know all hon. Members are waiting to contribute to. One of the highlights I want to dwell on is the Bill the President requested. It is a very important Bill that touches on my Ministry. It is the Bill that seeks to March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 279 improve water harvesting and storage in this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Kenya is treated as one of the most water-scarce countries, with a small threshold of 647 cubic metres compared to the benchmark of 1,000 cubic metres globally. This country experiences two incidences, where during the dry season, we suffer from shortage of water - we know that our pastoralists out there, as we speak, are now experiencing drought - to situations where we have rains and the people of Budalang'i suffer as a result of floods. I think, as the Minister, this is a very important Bill which should come to this House. We want to ensure that this country has enough water storage capacity. The next Bill that will follow that one, will address the issue of shared boundary waters. We need the shared waters of this region. These include the shared waters that touch the Nzoia region, the Nile waters and the waters of the Omo River that drain into Lake Turkana. A policy must be put in place to ensure that shared resources like those, can benefit Kenyans. Recently, when I took over the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, I started putting in efforts to address one particular programme, that I need support from hon. Members. This is on the issue of sanitation. This is the International Year of Sanitation. I have so far attended two conferences on sanitation. The slides we watch in every conference show Kibera, Kangemi and other slums in this country. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation should put emphasis to ensure that we have proper hygiene and our lives in the slums are dignified. Instead of having \"flying toilets\", we should see Kenyans in the slums enjoying the services of toilets and bathrooms. I recently saw an example of a good block which had about five toilets and five bathrooms. This can only cost this Ministry Kshs1.5 million while we waste a lot of money in doing other things. From the President's Speech, this is one area that we will try and put emphasis on. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to talk about trade and commerce in this country. In the Vision 2030 policy, we want to see some shift in decentralisation. Every region in this country should put effort in contributing to trade and commerce. I know of situations we do not get our priorities right. In order to improve and gain more resources for this country, we need to improve infrastructure. However, if you look at our infrastructure, you will find that we have not prioritised correctly, and this does not help some regions. Let me give you a good example. The road that takes the Sudanese from here to Juba is either through Lokichoggio or Uganda. It takes about 2,500 kilometres to go through Kampala and 1,500 kilometres through Lokichoggio. The Sudanese Government has challenged this Government to fix the Turkana Road, the road that takes them to Lokichoggio, and yet nobody is putting in, that effort. That means that our trade has been taken over by Uganda and Egypt because we cannot repair our infrastructure. We need to fix the road that leads to Moyale so as to open up those areas. We know that they are conflict areas but there are solutions to conflict. To minimise the migration of persons who cause conflict, we have always suggested that we establish water sources in this area. That, again falls under my Ministry. So, I will try to do something about it. Mr. Speaker, Sir, drought has now affected many of the constituencies that fall under the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL). We need to cushion the loss of livelihood in these areas. In countries like Ethiopia, we have what we call the Safety Net Programme where they give funds directly to those who are affected. We want to see that happening here. This must be tried in order to improve the lives of our people. We all need to contribute to the tourism sector. We need to open up new areas. Tourists are getting tired of the Maasai Mara and the coast of this country. There is the North Rift and Lake Turkana which should be opened up. We need to improve security in those areas and open up roads. Mr. Speaker, Sir, one hon. Member said that the ASAL areas have been neglected. I know 280 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 that this Government has tried to help the ASAL areas. In the last financial year, we got Kshs1.5 billion for water. This year, we will try and push for Kshs2 billion if funds are available. However, what we really need to push for, in this House, for the sake of our brothers in the ASAL areas is the ASAL policy. The ASAL policy is what analyses all issues in the ASAL areas. The budget for this is approximately Kshs300 billion. I have just come from a meeting with the Minister of State for Special Programmes and we finalised the formation of that policy. It will cost us Kshs300 billion to turn around the ASAL areas. If that policy paper is brought here, I beg hon. Members to support the pastoralists of this country. We should reconcile this country and it is hon. Members who should do that. Everybody talks about ethnicity with pride and we cannot run away from it. I come from Turkana, and although in terms of population we are few, we are ranked tenth in the country. We also want to be proud of that. However, we want to change all that. I want, if I live in Malindi, for instance, to say that I come from Malindi and not talk of my tribe. Finally, to say the least, we need to give Kenyans a new Constitution. Kenyans do not have to deliver this Constitution. The President was not joking when he said that even Mr. Orengo could deliver it within three weeks. We need to get out of boardrooms and give a new Constitution to Kenyans. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}