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"id": 233913,
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"speaker_name": "Dr. Kibunguchy",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Health",
"speaker": {
"id": 294,
"legal_name": "Enoch Wamalwa Kibunguchy",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance to also say one or two words about the Energy Bill. Before I start my substantive comments, I would like at this stage to congratulate the Ministry of Energy for what they have done so far. One of the things that we are seeing in this country is that we have the REP that is virtually working in every constituency. For that, I would like to congratulate the Ministry. I also would like to congratulate my friend, Mr. Murungi, for having gone through very difficult times, and now he is back in the Ministry. Now that we have a substantive Minister in the Ministry of Energy, I hope that some of the programmes that had been started will be speeded up because energy is extremely crucial and fundamental. If we are talking about development, especially in the rural areas - I will confine myself mainly in the rural areas because that is where my constituency is - we cannot afford not to give a lot of emphasis to energy. At every stage of our development, the issue of energy comes to play. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, probably, we, as a country, made a false move when we were being urged by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to liberalise most our sectors. We have seen that liberalisation is one of the cardinal tools that have brought massive poverty and unemployment in this country. It is good at this stage to realise that there are certain sectors that must be regulated. One of those sectors that must be regulated is the energy sector. The spirit of this Bill resonates very well with my thoughts, that there are certain sectors of this country that we cannot give people a blank cheque to do whatever they want to do. There must be some aspect of regulation, so that we, as a Government, know what is good for our people. I welcome wholeheartedly the creation of the ERC because for a long time, and as we have said in this House time and again, the people in the oil industry were given a blank cheque to do whatever they wanted to do. They have over the years amassed massive, sometimes I would call them obscene profits, at the expense of our people. So, at this stage, once we get a body that is going to regulate what they are going to do, that body, to me, is welcome and the sooner we pass this Bill, we should constitute this Energy Commission so that it can look into some of those aspects. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will not talk much about electricity because my colleagues spoke for me. I agree with that they have said. We cannot develop in the rural areas unless we have adequate supply of electricity. We must have electricity in our secondary schools if we want our children in the rural areas to be able to compete, or even be at par with their counterparts in the urban areas. The issue of the ICT has been mentioned again and again. I would just like to add my voice and say we are now living in a world where unless you are competent in computer, there is probably very little you can do. But I would like to spend a bit of time talking about the charcoal industry. This is one industry that is a paradox. On one hand, we are allowed to use charcoal, but on the other, it is illegal to produce and transport charcoal. The Minister for Energy must move very quickly and make sure that, that paradox is addressed as urgently as possible. The majority of our people in urban areas, about 70 per cent, depend directly on charcoal for heating and cooking. This is an area that we cannot run away from. Let us regulate it and make sure it is done in a responsible way. Let us make sure that the production of charcoal is as efficient as possible. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, right now, because of the clandestine nature of the production of charcoal, you find most of the kilns that are being used to produce it are extremely inefficient. People put figures of the recovery rate of charcoal from a load of wood as low as 10 per cent. The rest 90 per cent is left because either people are in a hurry or because there is no technology that has been put in to come up with efficient kilns for production of charcoal. I think we have to start looking at the energy aspects that are used by the majority of our people. Studies have shown that the charcoal industry generates close to Kshs32 billion annually, 3814 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 21, 2006 and about 2.5 million Kenyans depend on charcoal either directly or indirectly. That is an industry that cannot be ignored. Therefore, we must move in, regulate it and put policies together so that charcoal is produced efficiently, its producers are not demonised and charcoal burning stops looking like a dirty trade, and our people should not be hunted down just because they are producing a bit of charcoal. It has been shown that the majority of the wood that is used to produce charcoal actually does not come from our forest. So, I would like to urge my friend, the Minister for Energy, that this is one area he needs to address. When he addresses this area, he will be addressing the direct needs of the poor of this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would also like to say something small about the Rural Electrification Authority. Again, as we commend the Ministry of Energy for the work they have done so far in making sure that there is, at least, one rural electrification programme per constituency, I wish they would have done more. I would like to ask them to do more. If we are thinking of acquiring the status of a developed country by 2030, that is one area that we must invest a lot in."
}