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{
    "id": 504764,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/504764/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 132,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Abdalla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 382,
        "legal_name": "Amina Ali Abdalla",
        "slug": "amina-abdalla"
    },
    "content": "those existing legislations and provide alternative outlets to address environmental disputes. In fact, the EMCA Act, 1999, was the first Act that provided for public participation on environmental management. It was also ahead of its time, in that it provided for a relaxed law on the concept of locus standi . Hon. Members, as you remember in1989, the late hon. Wangari Maathai took the Kenya Times Trust to court so that they could not develop a highrise building in Uhuru Park. She lost the case based on the fact that she did not have locus standi . So, the Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act, 1999 relaxed that so that members of the public would be able to go to court when their right to a clean environment is infringed. Despite these positive and progressive provisions under the EMCA Act, it has now become necessary to review it so that it conforms to the Constitution; mainly the Fourth Schedule and the fact that we now have a devolved system of government. Hon. Speaker, the amendments in this new act are therefore intended to deal with incorporating environmental co-ordination in the county governments and also to reduce the number of institutions in this sector so that we can rationalise resource use and also strengthen dispute resolution mechanisms. The problem my Committee on Environment and Natural Resources encountered in reviewing this Bill is that we were presented with an amendment Bill that is amending 87 clauses of an Act with 147 clauses. This hindered our ability to think more broadly in dealing with these issues. We were further hindered by the timelines required by the Constitution and the fact that this Bill requires to go to the Senate. It became difficult to say: “Take it back and bring us a repeal Bill instead of an amendment Bill.” Hon. Speaker, with that in mind, it is clear that the Executive is the one at fault for having brought this Bill this late and we have had to work with what we have. As is tradition, the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources did put an advert and received both oral and written comments from stakeholders, which included from the Strathmore Governance Centre, the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution(CIC), the Council of Governors, Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), the Public Complaints Committee and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). In our review of this Bill, we were very clear on the different roles of the two levels of government and that is what directed our amendment of the same. Hon. Speaker, when the Mover was moving, he did inform the House of exactly what this Bill is amending. So, I will only focus on the recommendations the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources will be making to this House because we have had more time to look at the Bill in details. I will only focus on what we are recommending to this House as a way forward. Hon. Speaker, the first area of recommendation is on the issue of institutional framework. The amendment Bill abolishes the National Environment Council. That is amendment number five. The Committee would like to share with the House that despite the fact that many stakeholders urged us to re-introduce this Council, we disagreed with them. We agreed to abolish this Council based on a constitutional provision that the power to make policy is an Executive function that lies with the Cabinet Secretary. We would, therefore, be going against the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 if we give that power 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."
}