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"id": 233903,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/233903/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Angwenyi",
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"speaker": {
"id": 326,
"legal_name": "Jimmy Nuru Ondieki Angwenyi",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was saying that the City of Sydney, which is as big as the City of Nairobi, gets its electricity from a sewerage plant. The residents of the City of Sydney eat macaroni and crisps. They do not eat ugali and do not produce as much waste as we produce in this country. If we were to get power from sewage, we could even assist hon. Mwenje to supply power to his constituents. He will also not spend money to clean the area where we dump sewage. That is what I am saying. We have got many sources of energy in this country but we are not exploiting them. Hon. Members who contributed before me have talked about the sugar industry. This industry can produce electricity. We have got small sources of hydro-electric power like Nyakwana, Charachani and Kera in the place where I come from. If we invest in those small sources of hydro-electric power, we will have more energy without degrading our environment. So, what I am saying is that this country needs to reorganise its priorities on investments. We should invest in infrastructure so that we can create employment for our people. If, for example, we reduce the price of energy by 50 per cent we will able to dominate the COMESA market totally. Egypt will not be able to compete with us. By so doing, we will be able to manufacture more and create more jobs. We must embark on creating jobs for our youth. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Ministry is creating an authority to oversee the Rural Electrification Programme. This, I believe, is an indigenous idea. I do not believe that it is a World Bank idea. The World Bank has never produced an idea that has assisted any country in the world. I do know that we have managers from the World Bank at the KPLC. But let them be confined to offices and be advisors. We have our capable people who can run our institutions. So, when we allow the Ministry to create this authority, I am sure it will be able to perform. It will be able to connect a wider population of this country to electricity. Right now, we are giving two standards of education. A Standard Four child in Nairobi knows how to operate a computer. A Form Four child in the upcountry has not even seen a computer in his or her life. This is a big disparity in provision of education. So, we must make November 21, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3807 electricity accessible to all our institutions. We should have similar education standards in this country, so that the people in the rural areas are not disadvantaged. We all know that 50 per cent of the population of Kenya depends on firewood. In towns, 82 per cent of residents depend on charcoal. We should move with speed to legalise formal charcoal production, so that our people are not harassed when they are producing this source of energy. If we formalise charcoal production and manage it well, we will be able to conserve and protect our forest resources. I can foresee the Seven Folks Hydro-Power project going under. I can also forsee Sondu-Miriu River project going down and us falling short of getting adequate energy in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we will have the proposed Regulatory Authority, but let us make it as independent as possible. However, let us give the Minister and the President the power to appoint. Who says that an hon. Member of Parliament is more knowledgable than the President of the Republic of Kenya? This is somebody who has gone around the country and is elected by the people of Kenya. Why do you cast aspersions on our Ministers and the President? Why do you think that the President or Ministers will not appoint properly? The Ministers are now working under performance contracts. If they do not perform well, they will be removed from office. They cannot perform unless they appoint effective and capable people. So, let us give them the mandate to appoint people, the same way we have appointed the people who run the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) offices in our constituencies. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, suppose we were to be told that somebody else appoints for us the people who run the CDF offices in our constituencies, would we have achieved what we have now? Are we not achieving more now that we are appointing the people who can work with us? I want to give the Ministers and the President the authority to make the appointments. I believe that Kenyans, in their wisdom, have elected a President, because they believe he can perform. Let us give him the leeway to perform. Finally, we are going to make amendments and I am sure the Minister will accept them. The amendments will make this a very clean Bill. A Bill that can support Kenyans. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}