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"id": 206357,
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"speaker_name": "Prof. Ojiambo",
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"legal_name": "Julia Auma Ojiambo",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, cognizant of the fact that Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) constitute about 80 per cent of Kenya's land mass; aware that the ASALs are inhabited by about 10 million people; further aware that these ASALs contribute about 90 per cent of the country's meat production and have enormous potential for minerals; this House grants leave to introduce the Arid and Semi-Arid Land Development Bill which will guarantee channelling of investment-capital into ASALs to increase Kenya's land productivity by involving residents of ASALs into Kenya's wealth creation. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Motion speaks for itself in matters of wealth and resource distribution of this nation to Kenyans who live in various parts of this country. Kenya as a nation, is made up of vast land that is unused. As we know, Kenyans love land. They fight to get only a small portion of Kenya's land mass. The rest of it is lying un-utilized simply because the resources available for utilisation of land, either have not been properly directed or other areas have just been ignored because development has not been considered important for the people living 3526 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 29, 2007 there. This Motion tells us a lot about the utilisation of land in this country and what we have not discovered but is important for the development of Kenyans. The people who live in ASALs are considered poor and lacking in technology. Sometimes they are called lazy people, which is not true. Kenya has really not tapped its potential considering that 80 per cent of the land mass is un- utilized. I do not mean that there are no people in those parts of the country. There are people living on 80 per cent of the surface of Kenya and who are considered undeveloped, not interested in development, unable to even sustain their own lives. Those people can do much more than those of us who are enjoying life on 20 per cent of Kenyan land mass. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, all that is lacking and what this Motion intends to do, is to call upon the Government to direct development resources to these parts of Kenya instead of year in, year out, sending piece-meal support to them. Every now and then we hear of famine, lack of water and cattle rustling. There is even no security to protect the lives of people living in those vast land masses. There are no resources available to them to ensure that they develop water to use for domestic purposes or irrigation. There are no resources to help them develop roads or cultivate and utilise the land for their own food production. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we know that Kenyans like eating meat. It is important to note that 80 per cent or 90 per cent of the country's meat is produced in those areas. They cannot be poor or helpless and yet they are able to produce that much meat that this country likes to eat and some of it is exported. With little support, those people could do a lot to increase the wealth of this country. In any case, no Kenyan wants to go hungry or wants to be assisted from day to day. They too want to feel proud that they can manage their own lives. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are saying that this is the reason why this country must think seriously of devolving the country's resources and even allowing people in their regions to take control of their environment and their essential needs. If, for instance, wealth is concentrated in the centre of the country, around Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa and the rest of the country is left without resources, then that is what Kenyans refer to as discrimination and lack of sensitivity to the needs of the rest of the country. Resources must be devolved to those areas where people are unable to develop their environment so that they can produce resources and essential needs for themselves. Kenyans are not lazy. Even those who live in the dry arid lands have survived and have been able to supply resources to this country because, they are working against environmental hazards, harsh environment and natural calamities. They have cultivated on these same land, generation after generation. The Government needs to focus its attention on these areas, so that we expand our catchment areas for revenue and economic growth of our nation. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, people in ASAL areas are capable of producing maize, fruits, flowers and all kinds of crops. Most of these crops can be exported to earn foreign income as well as contributing to the distribution of food to the rest of the country, where the environment does not allow such foods to grow. Recently, when some parts of Garissa were well irrigated during the District Focus for Rural Development, we saw a lot of bananas, water melons and other fruits being grown there. This helped a lot. These fruits should be exported to Western Province. Our people would also be happy to eat bananas from North Eastern Province just like people in this province are happy to eat maize from Western Province. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are informed by geologists that these lands also have gemstones that have never been tapped. How do we know that we could not one day effectively mine oil from these areas? If Kenya was to put its resources and technology to work, we could become an oil producing country just like any other country in Africa. That would change the living standards of people in this country completely. August 29, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3527 It is very important that this House looks seriously into the areas that are not fully used. We, as legislators, should be able to put in place legal frameworks that will help the Government to send resources to those areas that are not fully utilised today. This is the only way we can help every corner of the country to exploit their potential. We will not only satisfy our nationals in terms of ensuring that they too are part and parcel of activities that go on to produce wealth and develop the nation, but they also become a focus of development resources and thus feel that they are appreciated. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when people are not assisted they tend to think that the Government is not helping them and that it has ignored them. They tend to think that the Government has deliberately designed to leave them out of its activities. I am sure the Kenya Government does not intend to do that. The only way for the Government to show that it is not doing that is to ensure that as we allocate money in this House for various development projects, we start to think very seriously about Kenyans who live in poverty. This poverty is not meant for them, but the Government has deliberately failed to provide for them. We pass Budgets in this House, year in, year out and we do not reflect in those Budgets funds that could go to the development of ASAL and semi-ASAL areas, to provide for those people and increase this country's productivity. We are acting as though we are not aware of our responsibilities to the rest of this country. We are acting as though we do not even know the vastness of our own nation. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to urge this House to support this Motion to enable me to bring to this House a Bill that will put into---"
}