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{
    "id": 230097,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/230097/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 354,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Prof. Maathai",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 226,
        "legal_name": "Wangari Muta Maathai",
        "slug": "wangari-maathai"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also want to remember the fact that so many of our people are still suffering because of the floods and drought in many parts of our country, especially in north west and eastern Kenya and at the coast. As I have said before, I congratulate hon. Members who have taken up the tree planting campaign very seriously. It is something that is durable. It is something that we can work on very easily with our constituents. You can always call on us and we will be very happy to come, although at times we are overwhelmed with work. We will come to educate our people on how they can very easily plant trees, provide themselves with firewood and building materials but at the same time, and most importantly, protect the soil and harvest rainwater. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is true that we do not have adequate encouragement in the rural areas and I wish our Ministries of Environment and Natural Resources, Water, Agriculture, Roads and Public Works and Energy work together in order to ensure that we can harvest rain water. A lot of the water that floods this country and causes havoc downstream, especially at the coast comes from the highlands. So, the people in the highlands need to be encouraged by extension officers. These Ministries should have an Inter-Ministerial Committee working together comprised of extension officers who will ensure that rain water is harvested. When rainwater is harvested, it replenishes the underground rainwater so that we can have rivers flowing constantly. It also prevents the soil erosion that is causing a lot of havoc in our dams and making it very difficult for the Ministry of Energy to produce enough energy for us. These are issues we have raised in this House many times but I sometimes wonder why we are not able to implement them because without protecting our environment, I do not know what else we are protecting. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to appeal to the hon. Members and leaders in this country to preach dialogue and peace and also remember that we are elected here as servants of the people. They should be humbled by the fact that we are here for only a short while and then leave the House for others who will follow us. What is important is the country and the unity we leave behind. We want a united people in this country but people cannot be united by leaders who are constantly thumping chests at each other. We must learn to be humble as servants of the people. We must learn to be humble, as servants of the people, and to preach peace in this country. If we put fingers into people's nostrils, one day, those people will react. When they react, that is when we will have conflict. We have no idea what dimension the conflicts arising from such situations may take. They may become unmanageable and then we will start to wonder why we do not have peace in our country. I want to encourage hon. Members that we should restrain ourselves from interfering with the internal affairs of others. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let us truly, respect the rule of law as much as we can, especially those of us who are in the Government. Many of us who are in the Government today were in the Opposition yesterday. Surely, we should not do to others what was done to us. We should practise the respect and dignity that we aspired for when we were in the Opposition. It is in that spirit that I appeal to everybody that, as we proceed on recess, we preach peace to our people, so that we can have a truly peaceful and prosperous country. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}