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{
    "id": 362076,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/362076/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 272,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. A.T. Anyanga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1321,
        "legal_name": "Andrew Toboso Anyanga",
        "slug": "andrew-toboso-anyanga"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I wish to thank hon. Mbadi for recognizing that Butere is a land of great debaters. Indeed, the fact that Shikuku is resting in peace, the representative of the people of Butere is here to make sure that the fire that he lit on this Floor will still light as long as we are alive. I rise to second the Motion by hon. Mbadi on the need to establish a fund that would assist the small-scale fishermen in this country to access financial services and facilities that would help them exploit this very unique natural resource. I wish to draw the attention of this House to Articles 42 and 69 of the Constitution, which are very clear on the need to protect our natural resources, not just for the benefit of the State, but also for the benefit of the community. We are a very lucky country because in the Continent of Africa, Kenya is one of the few countries that have a lot of water mass. If you compare with the rest of the continent, namely, North Africa, South Africa and West Africa, we belong to what we call the Great Lakes Region. Within this country, we have the largest fresh water lake in Africa. We have one of the longest coastlines in African. We have a lot of inland water masses including Lake Turkana, Lake Naivasha and a couple of other lakes and rivers that all have been a source of fish. It is also important to realize that as a country, we have been faced with the major challenge of food insecurity. In addressing the problem of food insecurity, the Government, for many years, has been missing the point in terms of not realizing what it would mean to grow and develop the fish industry. Indeed, a lot of children who grow up in this country and suffer malnutrition problems of Kwashiorkor it is all because of lack of enough proteins in their diet. It is important to realize that we are not growing a healthy economy and population if we do not look around ourselves and realize the natural resources that we are endowed with and exploit them to our benefit. In the recent past, there has been a paradigm shift in the way Kenyans are looking at their health in terms of shifting their dietary and culinary tests to focus more on more health conscious meals including white meat. In particular, I am looking at the consumption of fish. Indeed, it is no longer a question whether fish is being eaten in other parts of the country. I am told from statistics that, in fact, central Kenya is now consuming more fish than Western and Nyanza. I could be right or wrong, but that is what is coming out. Probably that is the reason why the fish processing plant is in Thika. As we continue thinking of how we are going to support the very people who are at the core of this industry, who are the small-scale fishermen, we need to look at"
}