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{
    "id": 513601,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/513601/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 251,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
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    "content": "In December, 2014, the Republic of Tanzania faced a crisis. The crisis was caused by the fact that one elephant had been killed in a national park by some poachers. The country was so irked by the action that it sent the military to find out who would dare hunt down their elephants. The military were so vicious in looking for the poachers that two people lost their lives in the process. As a result, four Ministers had to resign because of one elephant. That is the kind of importance they attach to their national parks. The tourism sector in Tanzania is doing three times much better than the one in Kenya and yet their entry fee to their parks is more expensive than what is charged in Kenya. The reason, as I have said, is obvious. What are the benefits of this? The benefits are that now in Parliament, in the Republic of Tanzania, we have 30 year olds who have studied using income generated from the parks. The income has enabled them to have universities. Whenever we think that we have many people graduating in Kenya, Tanzania has three times the number that graduates from universities. This is as a direct result of ploughing back to the resources to the communities. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I was reading the statistics regarding our national parks. The largest national park, Tsavo, lies in Makueni County. However, the amount of poaching and the losses to the community are enormous. The residents of Makueni do not feel the need to protect the animals because they do not benefit at all from the park. In the Wildlife, Conservation and Management Act, 2013, there was an attempt by Parliament to try and put some resources back to the community. They set a figure of 5 per cent. However, there was a caveat to this. The caveat was that the Minister in charge would set up regulations on how the communities would receive the 5 per cent of the benefits. It is now two years down the line and the Cabinet Secretary has not seen it fit to draw the regulations on why communities around national parks should benefit from the income derived from national parks. The fact that the Petition has come to this Senate reveals why this Bill is important. One side of Narok raises US$5 million as gate collection and the other side of Trans Mara raises Kshs1.9 billion, respectively. Just imagine if 20 per cent was to go to the communities. Forget about what Sen. (Dr.) Zani is proposing here. If 20 per cent as proposed in this Bill was to go to a sovereign fund which will benefit the community, people would not be fighting the way they are fighting in Narok today if this Bill was in place. If those regulations that are contemplated in the Wildlife Act were in place, people would not be fighting and the story goes on and on. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Mombasa has been a tourist destination. Every time we do our computations we say that tourism is our second largest earner to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but do the people of Mombasa benefit in any form? No, they do not. Therefore, this is one of those things that are absolutely critical. When Sen. Mwakulegwa invited me to Taita Taveta County to address his people, although I had gone to talk about a boundary dispute between the counties, but as we sat there, there was an argument about what produces all the red and green nice looking stones in Taita Taveta County. Some are even worn by Sen. Muthama here. He knows very well what I am talking about. Those stones are very nice looking. When they are produced, you can sell them for a lot of money. The question is: does the community in Taita Taveta County benefit? The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}