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"speaker_name": "Mr. Y. Haji",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. In the first instance, I would like to support the Motion. Besides the Government contributions, His Excellency the President told us that most of our development partners and other generous Kenyans have contributed a total of Kshs11.6 billion for the drought-stricken areas of this country. He told us further that the country will require Kshs6.3 billion up to June this year to deal with the famine brought about by the drought. When you add up this amount of money, it comes to Kshs28 billion. Surely, if successive governments in this country were sensitive to the plight of the people who are afflicted by drought after every two years, like the people in northern Kenya and other parts of this country, and planned well for this money, then we would not have had the problem which we are currently facing. If this amount of money is well used, it can transform the whole area of northern Kenya and other parts of this country which are prone to drought every other time. If this money was spent on damming water which is flowing into the sea, we could have had irrigation and turned these people into farmers 302 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 4, 2006 rather than leaving them to perish with their livestock every time that we have drought. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, His Excellency the President told us that last year the Government sunk 220 dams and 162 boreholes. My question is: If these dams were supposed to sustain the people, why have they not done so during this drought? The simple answer is that these dams are very small. They can only contain water when it rains. When it does not rain, then, naturally, you cannot have water in those dams. Sinking boreholes is not a solution. In fact, 162 boreholes being sunk is only going to contribute in depleting the ground water in the North Eastern Province because there is no constant rain in that area. If this happens, then there will be disaster all over whether it rains or not. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, also, too many small dams and boreholes will also contribute to overgrazing and soil erosion in those areas. I am talking from experience, that normally when there are one or two boreholes in a certain area, all the animals converge in that area because the other areas are dry, and they cause soil erosion and in the process they never benefit from it. I know the Government has done quite a lot. We cannot deny that, but it can still do much better if it commissioned experts to go and study the real issue in the northern part of this country and come up with a marshall plan that can foretell any catastrophe that is likely to happen as a result of drought. Every other three years we have a drought. The food that is sent there is not enough to feed the people. People just eat it and that is all. There is nothing they save to sustain them. Therefore, I would like to appeal to the Government and the Ministers who are here to make sure that we have a proper plan for that area. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me now touch on the issue of Somalia and Sudan. The President talked of us expanding business with Somalia and Sudan. This country cannot do business with Somalia because of continued fights. It is surprising that IGAD and this Government have spent a colossal amount of money and time in trying to bring peace in Somalia. Unfortunately, this has not been achieved. However, 15 years down the line, Somalis are still fighting instead of reconciling. It is a pity that we are facilitating warlords to use Kenya as a haven for rest. They start war, fight and kill many people in Somalia, and later on, we host them in our big hotels. They even enjoy facilities that are not supposed to be enjoyed by criminals. If Mr. Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia has been taken to court, why can we not do the same for the warlords in Somalia? If African governments and organisations, particularly IGAD, are conscious of the fact that the Somalia people need assistance, they should arrest these warlords and repatriate them to Mogadishu to perish there, just like other Somalis. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}