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{
    "id": 395011,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/395011/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 152,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Abdirahman",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 161,
        "legal_name": "Abdirahman Ali Hassan",
        "slug": "abdirahman-ali-hassan"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker, for allowing me to contribute to this very important Motion. I want to begin by thanking Sen. Haji for bringing this Motion. Madam Temporary Speaker, this Motion has come at a time when the Kenyan Govenrment is also contemplating relocating the refugees in Dadaab, Kakuma and any other part of the country. I very well remember, just towards the end of last month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government were consulting Members of Parliament from North Eastern and the northern Kenya in general, with a view to discussing with them how best these refugees can be relocated. I think that it is going to be a win-win kind of situation, if the Kenyan Government can critically examine this Motion. There is no doubt that we have got Kenyans there. I can confirm because in our offices, it is like a daily occurrence. We are visited by Kenyans who we very well know and are certified by the provincial administration officers on the ground, but have been forced to move into the refugee camps in search of food, better education and health facilities, because they could not afford to get this in their neighbourhoods. Madam Temporary Speaker, drought is a major occurrence. Successive droughts have decimated livestock numbers and made many people move to trading areas, even in Wajir Town, Mandera Town, Garissa Town and Ijara Town. Villages sprung up in these towns after every drought, which usually occurred after a span of about three years. Those who come to those trading centres or towns are those who have relatives. Those who lose their livestock and have no relatives are either in the Civil Service or business people. Passing a Motion in this House is not something that many a times helps. If the relevant Government agency or Ministry can pick up this Motion and somehow, bring up solutions including the formation of a technical team comprising of the relevant Ministries, to go and ask people to voluntarily come out and say who they are, I am sure that it can help a lot. Madam Temporary Speaker, besides that, we have complained so much in this country about insecurity, the latest being the Westgate Mall attack, which was a very unfortunate incident that has affected many of our Kenyans and people from outside the country. If we can sort out the refugee problem and Kenyans who are actually in the refugee camps, then our insecurity problem will actually come down dramatically. If we can engage as communities and their leadership, I am sure that the local communities in North Eastern, in particular, are more than willing to actually leave the refugee camps. It is incumbent upon the existing Government to actually resettle these people. We have resettled many other landless people in this country and allocated billions of shillings for this. Why would it be hard, really, to take a census of these people in the camps, allocate sufficient revenue in the budget and relocate them to Garissa, Wajir and Mandera? I think that the Government must wake up. They are not alive to this fact. This The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}