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"id": 227016,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. ole Ntimama",
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"legal_name": "William Ronkorua ole Ntimama",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if the Government is doing anything, it is too little, too late. I know the area very well because I live around there. I have been championing the whole process of saving the forest, almost second to my friend hon. Maathai, who, unfortunately is not here today. With regard to Lake Victoria, we were told yesterday by an hon. Member that the water has receded about six metres in and three metres down. This is just because the rivers on the Mau Forest have been interfered with. It is only the international community - I am glad we have some people in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific - who must be helping, including the European Union, which is an integral part of the ACP. These groups are trying to help, but you cannot help people who do not want to help themselves. You can only help somebody if he is really willing to move as well and help himself. The water is very important. It is simple: Just preserve, protect and save the environment and definitely, everything will start flowing. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have a lot of respect for my friend, hon. Koech, but I know more about Lake Nakuru than he knows, because I am so close to it. He knows that he is on the other side of the lake. Probably, he is more close to Lake Victoria than Lake Nakuru. As I said, the Government has done too little too late or nothing. So, it is important that we look after the watering system for the benefit of our people. We should take care of our environment including the wildlife. People think I am rather parochial when I say that it is only certain communities who have protected, preserved and protected the wildlife kingdom in this country. These are people in the north; our relatives in Samburu and the Maasai of Narok and Kajiado. We have taken upon ourselves to protect these animals for the benefit of the local and the international community. In fact, the consumers of wildlife right now are from the international community. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, although you want to tell me that I should wait for another day to talk about some of these issues, the Mara today is being targeted by all the greedy people who want to make quick money and do not care whether they are destroying the wildlife or the environment at all. This is actually what we must be careful about. As they say, the Mara is so special a resource that we cannot just put down a hammer to partition Narok District, essentially partitioning the Mara and doing all sorts of other things, because you will damage the ecosystem. I am saying so because it is very important. I support the Government in many respects. I hardly castigate the Government when it does the right things. However, when those in the Government do the wrong thing by failing to think properly and consider the future of our children then, definitely, it is a serious affair. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I said, this Report is complex and multi-cultural. However, I do not know whether this is what other people read. There are so many other things. It is a complex Report dealing with very many things, but one important thing I have seen is that about human rights. Human rights is a new development. All human rights issues came up after the April 11, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 559 Second World War. When the Nazis and the fascists were defeated by the allied forces, there were no human rights issues. Subsequently, human rights issues started emerging. People started speaking about the rights of the people, particularly those of women, children and indigenous people. To this list, I would add the rights of pastoralists. The right to religious affiliation and other rights issues developed over a time. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the question is: Are we, as the National Assembly and the people of Kenya, really, thinking about the rights of men? I have referred to the rights of men because the French Revolution, which was the second biggest revolution involving human rights after the War of Independence in America, was about the rights of men. Even in some parts of the Bible \"women\" also mean \"men\". So, the rights of men included the rights of everybody, namely, women, children and men. That is where we are today. We must articulate the rights of the people and those of communities. Probably, we are not articulating the rights of communities. Everybody must be given their rightful share of rights. Marginalisation is simply discriminatory, and it can only come from dictators and people who do not care about other people. It is perpetrated by looters. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not want to speak for too long, but I would like to say that I am a real supporter of the African-Caribbean-Pacific Parliamentary Assembly, which will, definitely, help us to develop our own land like our partners in the Group of 77 countries and, of course, our development partners in Europe and Americas have done it. Thank you."
}