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{
    "id": 369949,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/369949/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 384,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Korere",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13134,
        "legal_name": "Sara Paulata Korere",
        "slug": "sara-paulata-korere"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the Motion but, first, I want to thank the Mover for bringing it to the House because it is timely. As much as I do not come from a floods prone county, I come from a county where when it rained in those good old days, it used to bring happiness to children. This is no longer the case. Rains have turned from being a blessing to almost a curse to some communities. The damage that rains cause on the infrastructure, and the havoc that comes with it, cannot be overstated. I come from a small sleepy village called Doldol. In Doldol, there is a small plain where we used to play when I was a little girl. That plain is now a very big gulley. Every time it rains, the gulley expands. Sometimes I wonder for how long we are going to just sit and watch as that gulley expands. It looks like one day the entire Doldol Township will be swept right inside that gulley, if something is not done. I would think that putting in place a disaster preparedness authority is the right way to go. As the hon. Member who spoke before me mentioned, there are already authorities in place but there are so many management issues in those authorities that we might not even have the faith that they can handle disaster issues in the way we envisage. Therefore, in my view, putting in place a new authority and strengthening it so that it can handle disaster in a professional manner is the way to go. We are not thinking of employing people who have never been in employment. I do not see how the proposed authority will become a burden to Kenyans when it is the lives of the same Kenyans we are worried about. I would want to cite a case where some NGOs and CBOs have made disaster management a full-time activity. They have actually turned the activity into a cash cow. If the Government does not put measures in place to curb such things, we will continue having problems. Some NGOs use the same money that is brought to the country by donors in the name of mitigating disasters to buy pigs and bring them to Parliament Buildings to call hon. Members swine. Therefore, disaster mitigation should not be left to NGOs. The Government should come in handy and put in place an authority to handle disasters. It is not enough to just sit and wait for disasters to happen, so that we can mitigate them. There is need for a lot of research to be done. There is need for a lot of training of the citizens on how to cushion themselves from disasters. We can only do so if there is a body which is mandated to carry out such activities. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}