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{
    "id": 405977,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/405977/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 80,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Muzee",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2225,
        "legal_name": "Daniel Kazungu Muzee",
        "slug": "daniel-kazungu-muzee"
    },
    "content": "country and especially where I come from in Malindi, in the great county of Kilifi. We know that tourism is driven by three key factors which are basically the beach, the culture of the people and, of course, wildlife which is why we are discussing this Bill. We know that our wildlife is under threat. We have learnt from the media that elephants are being killed left, centre and middle. This poses a great risk for our wildlife and tourism and we know that tourism contributes a lot to the economy of this country. A lot has been said by my colleagues here and I support their sentiments. I think there is need to focus on marine wildlife. A lot has been said about animals in the park, but where I come from there are marine parks. It is very important that we also consider the fish species that we have in the Indian Ocean which also attracts tourists who pay a lot to drive this economy. So, I would like to see in this Bill a focus on preservation of fish species in marine parks. We need to ensure that we do not have pollution or spillage that can destroy fish species. I really wanted us to be keen on that as we move forward. A lot has been talked about wild animals, but wildlife is about the flora too. When I was growing up in Malindi, there were forests all over the place. I do not see that any more. I think we need to focus on this as much because cutting down trees affects our lives. It also contributes to desertification. In my constituency these days if there is no rain we say that someone has decided to cast a spell on the community. We hear stories of people being cut with pangas because of witchcraft. I am sure you hear a lot about that from my area. So, I think we need to focus more on the flora as well so that we also conserve our forests. As we all know, the forest cover in this country is less than two per cent. We need to ensure that this goes to over ten per cent so that we also provide a good ecosystem for our wildlife. Hon. Speaker I would also like us to focus more on the stray animals. Last month I heard that hippos strayed into my village and ate all my maize. It was really sad. We could not do anything. We had to call the wardens in Malindi, but they normally take too long to come. It is very frustrating. Of course, there is danger that lives could be lost when these animals stray into our farms. They also destroy our crops. So, when it comes to compensation it is important that we compensate not only for injuries or lives lost, but also for the destroyed crops. This is because families are trying very hard to get out of poverty through their labour in the farm and yet animals destroy their crops. It becomes very frustrating, indeed. It is important for us to focus on conserving wildlife. Two or three years when I was in Singapore I was shocked that if you want to see a cow, you must go to a zoo. I do not think we want to get to that level by depleting all our wildlife so that our grandchildren visit zoos to see a cow. We need to encourage communities to participate in wildlife conservation efforts. As school going kids those days we used to form groups to conserve the wildlife. I think this should be encouraged in schools and committee groups as well. We need to give them much support because I can see they are straining. There has to be a lot of effort to ensure that they do their work. Having said that, I really want to rise and support this Bill which is very timely. We need to ensure that we use this moment to ensure that we have laws that will guide wildlife conservation. We need to help transform this country through the heritage we have as a country and as a nation. Thank you so much, I rise to support The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}