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{
    "id": 33713,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/33713/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 469,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Eng. M.M. Mahamud",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Energy",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 373,
        "legal_name": "Mohammed Maalim Mahamud",
        "slug": "mohammed-mahamud"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance. Let me thank Mr. Affey for bringing this Motion. Let me also thank the international media and our media and the Kenya Red Cross for bringing the plight of our people in the region to the limelight. Thank you very much for the support from various regions. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the drought which we are experiencing today is said to be the worst in the last 60 years. I am told that this type of drought was there in 1950s. Today, the drought we are talking about is not going to be a normal drought. In fact, people are saying there is no famine, but there is actually famine in our region. The talk that there is famine only in Somalia is not true. So, we need urgent response. The effects of the response that we have seen in the last three weeks have not been felt on the ground up to now. There is serious food shortage. There is serious water scarcity and our animals are also dying. We need to get our priorities right. Up to April, there was a big drought. However, food delivery to our regions has been very poor. We know that food is there in Kenya, but delivery of that food to the people has not been there. There is a serious transportation problem in the region. Something must be done to airlift that food which is available and which has been collected by the Kenyans for Kenya initiative to be delivered to the people. If we do not do that in the next few days, I think we will have a serious catastrophe in the region. We must get our priorities right. We hear the Minister for Planning wants to do a census in the region. He wants to spend over Kshs400 million. We do not want a census; he must give us that money for food. You cannot imagine that the Ministry is talking about having a census at this time of the year when we know what is happening in that region. We must get our priorities right. Leaders of this country must move to those regions now and see what is happening on the ground because what they are hearing and seeing on the TV could just be stories to them. Let us save lives because this situation is life-threatening. We really have to put in a concerted effort and mobilize all the resources we have, including transport from the military, the NYS and various departments of the Government and move there and save lives. We can be talking about other long term measures like irrigation, but for now, we are talking about how to save the situation in light of what we have today. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}