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{
    "id": 474742,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/474742/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 645,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ogalo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2679,
        "legal_name": "George Oner Ogalo",
        "slug": "george-oner-ogalo"
    },
    "content": "communities to be given more allocation from the royalties. I want to appeal to you, even if there is mineral deposit in your area that does not mean that there will be no mineral deposits in other areas. We cannot take all the money to that area because we will need to have infrastructure to move the minerals to the market and we will need security for the investors to come to those areas. So, we appeal to Members of Parliament who come from regions with minerals or other resources now, to approach debate on sharing of royalties with a lot of sobriety. I am happy this Bill has, for once, taken care of the artisanal miners who had all along been rendered illegal by the previous Bill of 1940. This Bill creates perfect recognition of those miners and for once, gives them legal participation in mining sector. We have taken great steps to deal with the discretionary powers of the Cabinet Secretary. The original Bill had given the Cabinet Secretary feudal powers in the managing of the mining sector. As a Committee, we have taken every step to democratize the management of mineral resources and issuance of licences for both the artisanal and large scale operations in mining sector. We have taken steps to increase transparency in handling of applications for mineral licences; both prospecting and extraction licences. The Bill deals with the procedure of how an application is handled, from when it is presented to the board for consideration to when the licence is granted. We have taken great care in constituting the board. The Committee has ensured that players in the industry, that is, large scale investors, members of the Chamber of Mines and others do not get their way into the board. You cannot come as a player extracting minerals and at the same time regulate how minerals will be extracted. I want to appeal to the membership of this House to ensure that this sticks in this Bill until it is signed into law by the President. We have this time round legitimized and put into law agreements made between large scale investors and communities. Communities will never be short-changed. Whenever they get into agreements, we will have agreements which are binding in law. No investor, large scale or small scale, will be able to carry out mining activity in an area disregarding any agreements they have gotten into with the communities. They also indicated that large scale operation licences and agreement will need at some stage to pass through the National Assembly to be debated clearly. This will ensure that when the country binds itself into a mining agreement or issuance of operation licence, there will be no possibility of back room dealing at the Executive. All such licences will be discussed and approved by this House. We have also introduced something called the free carrier interest, which means that the Government of the Republic of Kenya will have a free stake in any large scale investor at a particular percentage that will probably be specified in the Committee stage. But the import is that, no large scale operation will take place excluding the Government completely. This is important because if the Government sits in the board of large scale operator, then it will be able to quantify even the credibility of the royalties being paid to the national Government, county governments and the communities. We also treat certain minerals whose discovery would be declared as strategic minerals. These are minerals that even though you have a licence to extract them from an area, any discovery of such minerals should be gazetted from time to time by the Cabinet Secretary in consultation with the Executive so that they are preserved for the Republic of Kenya. 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."
}