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{
    "id": 479767,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/479767/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 172,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ekomwa",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2940,
        "legal_name": "James Lomenen Ekomwa",
        "slug": "james-lomenen-ekomwa"
    },
    "content": "development in the areas. I want to make it clear that when others were busy building schools, hospitals and roads, in areas like Turkana, the people were not given that opportunity. They were busy herding livestock and relying on relief food all the time. When others were given schools, pastoralists were given relief food. It is high time we stopped provision of relief food. We deserve to enjoy the same rights as other Kenyans. God has given us minerals and we must enjoy their benefits to the maximum, so as to be at par with the rest of the communities in the country. People should not ask why Turkana is allocated more revenue through the CDF. This is because they have a lot of problems. We should also ask who has caused all these problems in Turkana. Our problems have been piling up and this Government has given us an opportunity. So, we must maximize on that opportunity. The other thing that I want to make clear is that since some of the miners know that they have power, money and technology, they take the opportunity to marginalize communities. The companies that have been given the opportunity to mine should consider local content. There is what we call in the country “value;” when a foreign company comes to mine, it must maximize on all equipment. All the employers’ requirements must come from the country. They should not import everything. We must use the local materials in Kenya to benefit our communities. When it comes to job opportunities, you will find a company imports all its employees and members of the local community are just spectators. How can you be a spectator of your own resource? How can you just die hungry when a foreign company is mining next to your area? This Bill should ensure that owners of minerals enjoy benefits of minerals more than foreigners. It is not good to find a refugee more being more comfortable than a Kenyan here in the country. It is shameful! Therefore, when minerals are exploited in an area, the first expectation is that people who are affected will have their lives uplifted. For example, oil has been discovered in Turkana. We do not expect Turkana people to be given relief food all the time. We expect Turkana now to be ‘haven’; if people fail to go to the haven they have been promised, they can just go to Turkana."
}