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"id": 233698,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/233698/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Wetangula",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 210,
"legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
"slug": "moses-wetangula"
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"content": "If it is a World Bank requirement, a few minutes ago you heard what hon. Nyachae told us about the treatment we get from them. If you want a project from the World Bank, you have to do pre-feasibility, feasibility, evaluation, procurement--- By the time you get to the genesis of the project, three or four years later, they turn round and say you have no absorption capacity, you are inefficient, you have no man-power. It is all born out of their own inefficiency. I think it is time we made it very clear as a country and as a people that we do not mind having experts if they are truly November 22, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3897 experts. But tell me, what is a white man from Canada coming to tell us about a pylon running from Eldoret to hon. Cheboi's constituency. Nothing! We have people who can do it. I think we need to address that. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the whole world today is conscious of the fact that fossil fuels will soon run out. The whole world is conscious of the fact that renewable energy is the way to go. This country, being a tropical country, we need a programme, and it is highlighted in the Bill, to exploit solar energy and biomass. Unfortunately, we are a country that does not have sufficient hydro capacity. We need, however, to exploit the small mini-hydros that can be constructed on rivers Yala, Nzoia, Sondu-Miriu, Gucha, Sio and others. Equally, if you have the chance of visiting Marsabit, you will see the wind capacity available there. I think we can also exploit wind energy which is clean and renewable. I am also a proponent of the idea that this country must take the next step towards exploiting nuclear energy, because it is cheap and clean. I support the peaceful use and exploitation of nuclear energy. You know very well that some countries want to make nuclear knowledge a preserve of a privileged club. I do not subscribe to that view. I would want to see that nuclear energy is exploited in this country to supplement what we have. You can imagine if today we had an investment of a steel rolling plant. We know that steel plants consume a lot of energy, say, up to 1,500 megawatts. The establishment of such a steel rolling plant will wipe out all the power that we have. We need to do proper forward planning so that we are able to cater for the expansion of our economy which is growing reasonably fast. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, geothermal power is another very readily available resource in this country. We have a capacity to produce up to 3,000 megawatts of power from geothermal. So far, we are exploiting less than 400 megawatts. We need to exploit the resource available between Lake Naivasha and Lake Baringo so that we are able to supplement our power needs. I wanted to point out something in the Bill that had to do with requirements of the company secretary and commissioners. It is stipulated that somebody should have at least 15 years of experience as a lawyer. You know that in this country with seven years of experience as a lawyer, you can be appointed as a judge in the High Court. That is the yardstick. Secondly, if you are looking for people with 15 years of experience, then you are cutting away the youth and yet we have very young people who are gifted and talented with wonderful managerial skills. We need to reduce the qualifications required to just seven years of experience which also qualifies one to be a judge of the High Court in this country. I would like to end my contribution by welcoming back hon. Murungi to the Ministry of Energy. I was happy to hear him say here yesterday that he is now born again and that he will shun politics of confrontation and controversy. He promised to concentrate only on lighting up the country. I believe that if he goes only that route, he will not make any enemies again. You know that hon. Murungi had made more enemies than anybody can envy both in this House and outside. Now that he is born again, I am happy that he is back to his former Ministry and I have no doubts that he will steer it to greater heights. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to personally register my appreciation to the Ministry of Energy for the Rural Electrification Programme (REP) that they are carrying out in many parts of the country, including my constituency. I urge them to speed it up and allocate more funds to this programme so that we can have power in virtually all our schools. We have been told of the availability of coal deposits in Kitui, Eastern Province. We need to speed up the exploitation of that energy resource so that we can harness it and have our economy growing. The last thing I want to address is the losses that Kenya Power and Lighting (KPLC) suffers and their incapacity to collect revenue. In many jurisdictions today, utilities like KPLC are installing prepaid meters where consumers pay in advance. That way, it will be easier and cheaper 3898 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 22, 2006 to run the utility and it will collect sufficient revenue needed to expand the grid to other areas of the country. It is high time we conformed with the changing times and installed prepaid metres to all electricity consumers in the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those remarks, I beg to support."
}