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"content": "bags per acre. So, you have been beaten hands down by Dr. Owuor and Prof. Mary Ambula, who are using the rain water; whereas people in Njoro town and its environs use donkeys to fetch water from River Ndarugu. But with a simple innovative mind like what I have just mentioned, we can do marvelous things. Now, Dr. Owuor has become one of the top dairy farmers whose farm is one of the most visited in Kenya. He is an example of what we can achieve as a nation if we come up with a policy that will compel all of us, including all institutions, to harvest rain water. Mr. Speaker, Sir, you come from Turkana County. You know very well that when it rains there, water causes a lot of havoc. It rarely rains there, but should it rain, you cannot measure the volume of water that flows into Lake Turkana and to other places. The same scenario is experienced in West Pokot County when there is heavy down pour. If all our schools are compelled to do water harvesting, we can store a lot of water to use during dry spells. The Ministry of Education has made it mandatory that for you to start a school, you must have public health in mind and toilets must be there. We should also come up with a policy where it is mandatory to harvest rain water. They can be done in schools, prisons, army barracks, hospitals and so on. By so doing, we will go a long way in realizing our dreams. Mr. Speaker, Sir, five years ago, we had the privilege of visiting India. We were on an industrialization tour. We were surprised that they decided to dam all their rivers to produce rice because the west was not willing to give them free food anymore. Here we have continued to feed our people on relief food. How many rivers do we have in Kenya? When rain comes, water just pours faithfully into Indian Ocean through River Tana. A lot of water also finds its way into Lake Victoria. We can achieve a lot if we harvested rain water, especially now that we have this technology of drip irrigation. We can manage our farms with a little quantity of water because of this technology. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this Motion comes at a time when I am told the national Government here has a lot of money in the Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resource, for dams. Some little amount has been set aside for almost all dry counties and constituencies. I know the county governments are also doing the same, but we should say that other than putting dams in place, there are simple things that we can do. Every family must be told to harvest rain water. Pastoralists, in particular, should be trained on simple ways of harvesting rain water so that they do not go around with their livestock looking for water and pasture. At one time in 1997, I read that there was a pastoralist in Tana River who had 10,000 head of cattle and who was looking for water. The fellow went all over the place looking for water. By the time he was coming back, he himself was emaciated and he died. He left behind all those animals. We normally train people in public health and sanitation; how they can keep themselves clean. We must make sure that people access water wherever they are. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I look at the rivers we share with the Turkana County. We have River Suam, River Murung and River Kerio. The amount of water flowing downstream without been harnessed is a lot. We should have ‘bumps’ so that for every kilometre, you dam the river so that when the people wake up to realize that they can do irrigation and farming, that should be already put in place. 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."
}