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"speaker_name": "Mr. Mwenje",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Co-operative Development and Marketing",
"speaker": {
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"legal_name": "David S. Kamau Mwenje",
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"content": " Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity. I want to remind hon. J.B. Muturi that national prayer breakfasts are normally there and so he needs to join them. They are not there for only one section. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to support this Motion. I want to congratulate the Ministry because, so far, it has done a good job. However, they started very well with so many projects, but in the course of time, I do not know what happened. They are now very slow. Projects are not being completed. Ministry personnel are not being seen on site and nothing is happening. I need to remind the Minister that all those electrification projects which were started, particularly in the slums have stalled. There was an electrification project which was started in Mukuru. Everybody was happy that, at the end of the day, they will be able to enjoy the fruits of this country by accessing electricity. However, for some reasons, the KPLC stopped it. I want to urge the Minister to check what is happening because it was being done directly by the KPLC. We still see the KPLC personnel come one day and then go away. As usual, we know that is how sometimes the projects work. I want to appeal to him to make sure that the slum electrification projects which were started are at least completed, so that people can enjoy electricity. I went to the people there and announced that it will happen and now they are asking whether it is an ordinary empty promise. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am happy that most of the streets in Nairobi are lit. There is still a problem between the Nairobi City Council (NCC) and Adopt-A-Light Company. I want to appeal to the Minister to intervene because the job has now stopped because of infighting between the NCC and the contractors. I think it is time that the Minister intervened to know exactly why this is happening. The exercise has stopped. I see the contractors who are installing the lights being arrested now and then by the NCC just because it does not want to award a tender to that particular person. I think it is time the Minister for Energy and the Minister for Local Government sat together and tried to solve this problem because it is slowing down the project which is supposed to be going on. August 8, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3071 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are also so many electrification projects upcountry which have stalled. We see a lot of poles which have been dropped, but there is nothing happening in terms of electricity supply. When will these poles be connected with electricity? Is it simply a publicity kind of stunt? This being an election year, I want to urge the Minister to make sure that these poles are connected with electricity. We want to see electricity installed and not empty poles. I am aware of so many such projects. Indeed, Mr. Lagat, explained that we have so many of such electrification projects which have started. People have paid the 10 per cent deposit that they were asked to pay by the KPLC. I have so many such receipts which people have brought to me asking me to help them get connected. In fact, could all those who have paid this deposit be connected? Let them even be asked to complete and they will be able to do so. Some have completed paying and they are not yet connected to electricity. That 10 per cent deposit is not little; it is a lot of money. So, if people have reached that level of paying the 10 per cent and they are not getting electricity, I think it is important that they get connected immediately. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another problem that bothers me and I think the Ministry of Energy should tell us is the frequent blackouts in this country. Why do we continue having blackouts as of now? We have had blackouts even in this House. Every now and then, I see blackouts everywhere. If we have a shortage of water supply, we can use the water of Lake Victoria. Why do we not use that water to generate electricity? Who are we waiting for to come and do it for us? I do not think we have any collision with anybody, including the Egyptians, on that. I think it is time this country exported electricity rather than importing it. So, I want to urge the Ministry to re-look at the usage of Lake Victoria water and see how we can make use of it. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, a country that is lit will reduce insecurity. We will create employment for our young men who can be doing the welding business and all the rest. I think we are not very serious on this. I think it is time we got serious. I am glad the Minister has promised to supply electricity to many areas. He has even asked us to pinpoint to him the areas that we would want to see electricity supplied. I believe he is serious and it will happen. The Ministry needs more money. The Kenya Power and Lighting Company collects a lot of money and should make use of it. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other day we experienced a very serious shortage of gas. Here in Nairobi, unless we have cooking gas, we cannot cook. If we use electricity, it becomes too expensive. I think it is important to find out why we are having these shortages. I do not think oil exploration is being done properly. I am still convinced that we have oil at the border of Kenya and Sudan. I believe that we can get oil from there. But are we doing serious exploration? If we have oil in Sudan, why can we not check why we do not have it on our side? Some equipment we use is very expensive. For example, the power generators which are in Embakasi cost a lot of money to operate on fuel. We must look for oil in this country and I believe it is there. We should not fear anybody. We should even explore the border because one inch of the country is ours. I still believe that we should not try to explore very far from Sudan. We should even explore as near as 10 feet from the border. Once we are there, I believe that oil will flow down to our country and we will use it because, after all, this is a natural commodity and nobody can claim ownership. We have the right to do it. We should seriously explore oil in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) is doing a good job by looking for ways of exporting oil to Uganda and other countries. They are doing very well and should be supported. But I think we should be very careful about the tankers which are carrying oil because they create havoc on the roads. Where it is necessary, we better extend the pipeline. There are many accidents caused by oil tankers on our roads. I hope that the Minister will now come out and solve that problem. It is particularly urgent during this year of elections. 3072 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 8, 2007 With those few remarks, I support."
}