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"id": 227309,
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"speaker_name": "Prof. Maathai",
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"legal_name": "Wangari Muta Maathai",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Motion. First of all, I want to congratulate the delegates from our Parliament who represented us in that conference, for their excellent contribution and Report. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to appeal for a sense of independence. We have been independent for more than 40 years but, for African, Caribbean and Pacific regions, we are still seen as junior and under-developed partners in many ways when we deal with the European Union (EU). Although the EU continues to be a very good friend in helping us to develop, we ought to set ourselves a time frame when we can say that we no longer need to be supported so seriously by our former colonial masters. We ought to develop and begin to be independent. It is very important for us to develop a culture of independence. I really think that for the African, Caribbean and the Pacific regions, we continue to lag behind the rest of the world. We have almost become completely used to being dependent. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, sometimes, when I look at the local level, and especially our rural communities and the constituencies that we represent--- Perhaps, due to the culture of Harambee that we introduced, we cultivated a culture of dependence instead of that of self-reliance. Members of Parliament experience a situation where people expect hand-outs all the time. That culture has made our people extremely dependent on hon. Members of Parliament so much so that, some of them will not even work when they can. Most of those people cannot support themselves because they expect hand-outs from hon. Members of Parliament. As a measure to fight that culture, we advocated that 2.5 per cent of our revenue be given to hon. Members through the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF). Although there has been a slight reduction, I personally still see too much of that culture of dependency. Hon. Members still serve as avenues of hand-outs. I, sometimes, wonder: When shall we break that culture, so that our people can become more independent? It is difficult to break that culture when, even at the national and international level, we have that culture of being too dependent on the developed world. There are many things that we can do for ourselves in an effort to cultivate that culture of self-reliance. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Report talked about the fishing industry. Some hon. Members have referred to that industry. We all know that Lake Victoria is one of the major sources of fish. As we all know, that lake has been under the threat of water hyacinth. There have been efforts, and even international support, to get rid of water hyacinth. But, to date, we have not succeeded. When this Government came into power, the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources spoke to various companies in different parts of the world to see how best we could deal 492 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 10, 2007 with the water hyacinth in Lake Victoria and right here at the dam next to Kibera slums. To date, nothing has happened. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, now, Lake Naivasha has water hyacinth. That water hyacinth is increasing every day. Nobody talks about it. We have raised that issue several times. We have even called upon the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to go there and even try to remove the hyacinth manually. But for some reason, which shows why we are so dependent, we continue to watch as the hyacinth propagates itself in Lake Naivasha. One day, maybe, ten years down the road, people will be discussing with the international community to help us get rid of the hyacinth in Lake Naivasha. Today, if the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources focused on that weed--- If the Ministry of Agriculture also focused on it and ensured that there is so much agricultural activity around Lake Naivasha, we could remove that hyacinth manually. We just need to hire a few boats and have somebody remove that hyacinth manually. Unfortunately, we will wait until the lake is chocked and then go to the European Union (EU) or other developed countries and persuade them to help us get rid of that menace. Why can we not do it? Why can we not learn to be self-reliant? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am challenging all of us that, it is not just enough to go to meetings and write beautiful records and reports which, when we discuss them here, they go into the archives. It is important for us, as a Government, to commit ourselves to action and do what we can for ourselves. We should not become people who can only move when we are moved by somebody from the international community. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am happy to hear that the rains are falling. I can hear thunderstorms. There, they go! I want to appeal to Kenyans to grow trees. It is a pity that only 1.7 per cent of land mass in this country is covered by forests. We can reach the 10 per cent that is recommended by the United Nations (UN) by planting trees. We do not need an international organisation or the European Union (EU) to help us plant trees in this country. If during this rainy season every Kenyan will plant a tree, we would quickly have at least 20 million trees in this country. As a matter of fact, I have said this before and I want to repeat it, every one of us needs to plant at least ten trees to take care of the carbon dioxide we individually breathe out. With the global warming which is also discussed in this Report, threatening our region and planet, there is no reason why every one of us should not plant at least ten trees to take care of the carbon dioxide we breathe out. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other thing that we would do, if we planted as many trees, is that we would stop soil erosion. We would stop our beautiful top soil disappearing into the lakes and oceans. Again, that is something that happens every time the rains come. One should be happy when the rains come but, personally, I am always sad when I hear thunderstorms because I know that water will run downstream and carry with it thousands of tonnes of our top soil. This is soil that we need in our fields to grow crops and feed ourselves, so that we do not go out into the world asking other governments to give us food. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we were in Bomas of Kenya, the Committee on Environment and Land discussed the need for this country to embrace a policy which requires that everybody who owns land to put at least 10 per cent of it under tree cover. We suggested that it does not have to be a wood or a forest, but that one would only need to plant at least 25 trees per acre. These can be fruit or shade trees. Now, if every person in this country who owns land was required to put 10 per cent of their land under trees, we would, overnight, have a country that has met the minimum requirement of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Again, that is something that we can do on our own. We do not need the EU or anybody else. We should be self-reliant just by moving our people to action. I remember that one of the members of that committee was our hon. Minister, Amos April 10, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 493 Kimunya. At that time, he was the Minister for Lands and he was very keen on that. So, I really do not know why our Government did not enforce this order. It would just take a statement from the Minister to say that everybody puts 10 per cent of their land under trees and at least 25 trees be planted per acre. I am sure that would immediately change the landscape of our country. It does not require any money or science to do so. It only requires will and in this case, political leadership where our Minister for Lands or the President, for example, can make that announcement. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other thing that we have been appealing for is that this country needs a national tree planting day. If we are going to take care of our environment, we must move from talking to action. We need a national tree planting day. That day should not be associated with the President. This is because His Excellency the President's calendar is not known to everybody. Usually, we are told the President will plant a tree two days before the actual planting day. That is the time when the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources announces that in two days time there will be a national tree planting day. However, there is nobody who is ready for it. We need a national tree planting day that is in the calendar that is known by every Kenyan be it a child or teacher, so that every year we prepare ourselves towards it. We must develop a culture of planting trees in order to reclaim much of our land that we are losing to deserts. Again, that does not require any science or much money. It is just declaring a national tree planting day. In fact, I had hoped that the religious leaders would declare Easter Monday a national tree planting day in order that we may restore God's creation even as we restore ourselves spiritually. I just hope that the next time we say a national tree planting day is on such and such a day, we shall not be accused of having usurped power, but I just wish the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources, especially would identify a day and have the President announce it, so that even the President's calendar can be worked around that day. We do not have to wait until the President is ready to go and plant a tree. This is because, usually, it is only his tree that gets planted. The event hits the headline the following day and we say we have had a national tree planting day, but in reality, it is only the President who has planted a tree. So, I wish we would stop that and have a national tree planting day. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as you can see, there are so many things we can do as individual Kenyans, hon. Members and citizens to take care of many issues which, when we do not take care of in good time, they go wrong and then we seek assistance from other governments. I can assure you that sometimes people do not know why we cannot do even the simple little things for ourselves, like stopping soil erosion. The Ministries of Environment and Natural Resources, Agriculture, Water and Irrigation and Energy should actually be seated somewhere at about this time when thunderstorms are threatening to strike to see how they will stop the running water. This is because water belongs to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and it is desperate about it. It should make sure that rain water is harvested through an extensive extension service that works with farmers. Talking about it is one thing, but going and literally helping the farmers harvest that water on their land is another. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, secondly, there is no reason why, when these rains come, our roads are turned into rivers. This is because all the water runs along the roads and carries all the soil, including the gravel. So, after the rains, the roads look horrible. Why can the Ministry of Roads and Public Works not manage this running water by harvesting it? As for the Ministry of Agriculture, surely, how can it allow so much water to disappear into the streams, and yet we need it? How can the Ministry of Agriculture allow so much soil to disappear with the water when we need the soil on the farms? This also applies to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources because these are natural resources. If these four ministries cannot get together, all that soil will be deposited in the dams and the silt will stop the operation of turbines. The Ministry of Energy will be able to produce as much energy as it should, if it ensures that clean water flows into the dams 494 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 10, 2007 rather than water that is ridden with silt. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, so, as we congratulate ourselves, I just want to appeal to Kenyan citizens to learn to do things for ourselves, that are doable and be independent, as individual citizens. This is because, collectively, we shall become more independent, even at the national level. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}