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{
"id": 209159,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/209159/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Sambu",
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"speaker": {
"id": 137,
"legal_name": "Alfred B. Wekesa Sambu",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I would like to support this Vote on the Ministry of Energy. I support what this Ministry has done in setting aside funds for distributing electricity to the rural areas, and also for negotiating or continuing what has been negotiated with donors, including the French, so that the REP can be taken to the countryside. I am happy that in my Nandi North 3154 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 14, 2007 District, you can see the spread of electricity to the rural areas. I want to congratulate the Ministry for that effort. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would also like to point out one issue on this matter: When electricity reaches the rural areas, the connection fees demanded by the Kenya Power Lighting Company, which is also a distributor, is too high. The connection fees of Kshs100,000 for primary schools and Kshs32,000 for homesteads is too high. I want the Ministry to direct the Kenya Power and Lighting Company to reduce the required down payment and have its payment spread over a period of, say, two or three years, because once electricity is connected to a homestead or a school, the required down payment can be paid with the monthly electricity bills. This has to be done if the REP has to have an effect. I have, for example, in my constituency used the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) to pay for about six step-down transformers, but they are not being effectively used, because the demand for Kshs32,000 down payment from rural families and Kshs100,000 from primary schools is too high. So, I hope that the Minister will accede to my request and direct the Kenya Power and Lighting Company to reduce the amount of money that is to paid as down payment. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in appointing contractors, the Kenya Power and Lighting Company has to be more careful. I cannot say that some of the projects in the North Rift are not being properly done, but some of the contractors are indulging in politics. Even if they are aspirants for certain political seats, they should separate that aspiration from the contractual work given to them by the Kenya Power and Lighting Company. There is one individual, particularly in Eldoret, who is messing up the whole project. We know that this is Government money. There is a process involved for it to be disbursed. It has to go through the District Development Committees. When some people are appointed sub-contractors, they move around bragging. That is not right. We should appoint proper contractors. Secondly, contractors should pay on time the young people who help in digging the holes and erecting the poles. Now that the Kenya Electricity Generating (KenGen) Company is going to get funds from the initial public offer - it could have gotten that money already - it should spread the generation of electricity to the western region. Rivers like Nzoia and Yala in the North Rift are permanent, unlike the rivers which flow to the Indian Ocean, which, sometimes, have a problem. In the western parts of Kenya, we have a problem controlling floods. We have seen the unfortunate incident occasioned by heavy rains. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we should use rain water not only for agriculture but also for generating electricity. Those rivers start in the Highlands of the North Rift and flow down to Lake Victoria. I believe that if we build a power-generating plant on River Yala at Kaimosi, we will displace some people, but the returns from such a power station will be quite useful. Thank God, we have rains up there throughout the year. So, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I would like the Ministry and KenGen, now that they are going to generate funds from sale of shares, to use those funds to invest in more hydro- generating plants. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to speak about petroleum. My opinion is that we should diversify. In addition to relying on mineral and petroleum, we should also tell our people to plant oil producing crops such as sunflower and castor oil. Those are wild plants which grow in many areas. They even grow in dry areas. If they are grown in large numbers, you can extract, at least, some kind of crude diesel oil which require very little refining. So, I would like this Ministry to work in conjunction with other Ministries such as the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture to see that we get into other areas of getting petroleum. As I have said, the two crops; sunflower and castor oil plant--- Particularly castor, because it grows in many areas and produces fruits throughout the year. Sunflower is also good because in the areas with high August 14, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3155 rainfall, you can harvest two crops of sunflower in a year."
}