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{
    "id": 479846,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/479846/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 251,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Okoth",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 12482,
        "legal_name": "Kenneth Odhiambo Okoth",
        "slug": "kenneth-odhiambo-okoth"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to contribute to this Bill and to share some of my concerns and thoughts. First, a lot of Members have contributed in this House understandably with a lot of concern and reference to petroleum and oil in places like Turkana. However, I would like to put it on record that this Mining Bill is separate from the Petroleum Bill. It expressly excludes petroleum and hydro carbon gases. So, this is not the Bill that the people of Turkana have been talking about with excitement. Their issues are valid, but it is the wrong Bill. That being said, the Mining Bill is important for our nation. I do not think it is perfect and it still needs a lot of work to be done. My prayer is that the period between now and the Third Reading and the Committee stage in the House where real amendments will come before the final Bill is passed, we can find a way to make that a big enough period for a lot of people to give input including the private sector, experts from our universities and even people we can consult internationally. We need to consult them on the best practices, so that we can get it right rather than rush through with this Bill as it currently is and have a lot of problems to fix down later. When I look at mining and the use of mineral resources for the benefit of communities, there are very good examples of places where loyalties are shared very well with communities. This is a key thing that our current Mining Bill misses by saying that the national Government owns all minerals. If you own land, private property or communal land, anything under that land, by principle, should also be your property unless there is a strategic reason otherwise. For instance, minerals that are important for national strategic purposes or military purposes. Anything else should be that your land is your land. It belongs to your ancestors. They passed it on to you as a community or it is 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."
}