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"content": "River Tana and Garissa area on your way to Hola, you do not see any other plant; it is only that one. It is thick and nothing grows below it or within it. So, it messes up the ecosystem. This is a problem which has to be dealt with. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as it was mentioned earlier, there are also other weeds like the water hyacinth. In Marsabit on the mountains, where we have some very good lakes like Lake Paradise, of late, there is another weed called the “Nile Cabbage” which grows until you do not see anything; it is just light green and you do not see the water. So, it also messes up the ecosystem and the life in that lake, and the tourist attraction is no longer there. So, there are many things which we do not know where they come from and which are actually affecting our ecosystems. So, there is need for the Government, both at the national and county levels, to come up with effective ways of controlling these plants which were thought to be useful, but which are actually messing up our ecosystem and affecting our pastoralist way of life because our pasture lands have been taken over. The areas like the flood plains, which would easily grow grass, have also been taken over by these plants and now we have that problem. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, these weeds also have brought other problems; a good example are the goats from Baringo. We are told that the pods, which are sweet, are also acidic in a way because when they are taken by these animals, it leads to their teeth being corroded and at the end of the day, the animal starves because it does not have the teeth to now feed on other plants. So, it also affects the livelihood of the pastoralists because it affects the animals. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, one of the Senators said that nothing much is known about the effects of the thorns on human beings, but what we have realized is that once the thorn pricks you, it is very difficult for that wound to heal. It is even said to be cancerous in a way. So, it also has some negative effects on the human beings themselves. So, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, because of that, I support this Motion and urge the governments, both at the county and the national level, to take this issue seriously because it has the potential of affecting the lives of the residents of the ASALS. These residents rely on livestock, which rely on pasture, and this plant is colonizing the pasture lands exclusively. In the process, it is doing away with the plants which have been used in these areas, hence affecting the ecosystem yet they, themselves, are not useful because, as it has been said, no animal feeds on its leaves. It is only the goats which feed on the pods, which have also been discovered to be harmful to them. So, there must be some way of dealing with this weed because somebody might think that, maybe, it has some use, in the sense that it could be used as wood fuel. But the problem is that before it can grow to a level where you can use it, it would have already destroyed the ecosystems. Therefore, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to support this Motion and urge, as it was suggested by the previous contributor, that it be amended to include other weeds so that we do not talk about Mathenge today and, tomorrow, somebody else comes to talk about the water hyacinth and then I talk of the Nile Cabbage. It is better we have all these 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."
}