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{
    "id": 515420,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/515420/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 283,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "stakeholders in Tullow Oil Company. We agreed that we must have a coordinating committee in which both Tullow Oil Company and ourselves can sit, so that we can begin understanding the ground rules for the extraction of that particular natural resource. As Sen. (Dr.) Zani pointed out in her contribution, certain economies around us ensure that communities where natural resources exist have ground rules which create more benefits to those communities. For example, in the tourism industry in Tanzania, a natural resource called game is very important to that economy. So, rather than allow game reserves and tourism to be the preserve of the state and private companies, the communities where game reserves are, have been brought in as stakeholders who should get benefits from the exploitation of that particular natural resource. The ground rules are such that what the communities get is not a token “thank you” kind of gift, but a real portion of the benefits accrued from the exploitation of that natural resource. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is the same thing that is facing us, in the Committee on Finance, Commerce and Budget of this House, regarding the conflicts in Narok County, with regards to the game reserves there; the Mara Conservancy and Maasai Mara National Park. The governance of these reserves is extremely important as a way of channeling the benefits from the exploitation of that particular natural resource. We have been involved in extensive discussions with the county government and the stakeholders on whether or not these ground rules are working and the communities in Narok County, who regard themselves as the natural owner of the natural resource, are actually getting their dues, and how much of those benefits should go to the county government which is the custodian of the natural resource, environment and people of Narok. These are the issues that this Bill tries to address, so that we do not wait until there is a crisis anywhere in Kenya before we tackle the issue. We should lay the ground rules clearly in a law that will make sure that the communities in Kenya, the Government and investors are fair partakers of the benefits accruing from the extraction of natural resources. This is a landmark law in our economy which is extremely important. It also means that we should have benchmarks from somewhere else where we have laws which achieve the same goals like we are having. Sen. (Dr.) Zani and a few of our colleagues have had the opportunity of visiting New Zealand---"
}