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{
    "id": 358281,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/358281/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 214,
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    "content": "First of all, I want to thank hon. Ganya for moving this Motion. It is also good for me to mention that we also have Kenyans who are working towards protection of elephants. At this juncture, I want to thank one of my constituents, who is the Director of Elephants’ Neighbours Centre. They have already done a 500-kilometre walk from Mombasa to Nairobi. They are now doing a 1,100-kilometre walk to just create awareness about protection of elephants. An elephant has a great value to this country. It is an attraction to tourists. We know that tourism contributes 12 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We have data which shows that three elephants are killed daily in Kenya, and we have an elephant population of 30,000. Therefore, there is need for this country to worry about poaching of elephants. The maximum fine for people found poaching elephants is Kshs40,000. I suggest that we look at it with a view to providing for a 50-year imprisonment term. If we fine elephant poachers Kshs40,000 when they sell a kilogramme of ivory at a minimum of Kshs50,000, then we are not serious. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are collectively one of the main sources of ivory. We know that the transit point is Vietnam, and that the people who buy the tusks are from China and Thailand. So, it is good that we also talk to the governments of China and Thailand. Yes, they are friendly to us but when they promote poaching, then we should re-consider our relationship with them. I recommend that we pass the proposed Wildlife Bill that has been pending for five years, and about which nothing has been done yet. We should also review the penalties. I also recommend that KWS employs more game rangers. Currently, KWS has about 2,000 game rangers against 59 game parks to be protected. Big parts of our game parks are not well protected. Therefore, we need more game rangers to protect our national parks. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would also recommend that we take our local people for training, so that they can become game rangers. We should engage the communities living near game parks. We should support them to become game rangers. At the same time, we will be mitigating human/wildlife conflict. Our local administration also needs to create awareness about elephant poaching. I am very sure that we will manage. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}