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{
    "id": 475053,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/475053/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 270,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Lentoimaga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2756,
        "legal_name": "Alois Musa Lentoimaga",
        "slug": "alois-musa-lentoimaga"
    },
    "content": "An elder in the North can have more than 200 cows and they are wiped in a single drought spell to an extent that, that particular person dies because of heart attack or pressure. That is because he totally losses the livelihood that he depends on for his children and everything. Even apart from that, serious displacements take place. People are displaced from their ancestral homes. They come and stay in towns like Maralal, Garissa, Wajir and Lodwar. That is serious displacement to the extent that those people are rendered poor and they become slum dwellers. So, I hope this particular Bill will address those kinds of anomalies so that we can be able to compensate such people when they are in dire need of food. At the moment, we do not have a legislation which enhances this particular Article. So, we desperately need this law in order to operationalise this particular Article. A legal notice is not enough because it can be nullified at any time. The other day, the Minister for Labour published a legal notice to retire some senior officials. A court ruling can nullify such a legal notice. So, we need legislation for this matter. Even though we have not had legislation over the years, in some instances, like in 2001, the Government of Kenya responded to address disasters like drought. However, it has not done it properly. It has always been done in a haphazard manner because there is no Act which provides clear directions on the matter and empowers an institution like the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to effectively deal with disasters like drought. When it does, there is a lot of wastage of resources because there is no legislation. In 1999 and 2001, there was widespread disaster in northern Kenya region. The disaster affected more than five million people. In fact, it destroyed over 70 per cent of our livestock in the Eastern and Rift Valley regions as well as in the Central region. Even crops were destroyed. The consequence was serious food insecurity. We used a lot of money then. Donor and the Government of Kenya used more than US$340 million to address that particular disaster. The problem then was that the money was not directed to the areas that could have improved the livelihoods of our people. Once we have an Act of Parliament in place, such anomalies will be addressed. A new Bill will incorporate planning and provide for a legal framework for plan implementation. Such law will be proactive in terms of mitigation against disasters, risk management, resource mobilisation and stewardship, public education and coordination. The absence of a legal framework on disaster response has resulted in duplication of efforts by NGOs and other stakeholders. So, this particular Bill---"
}