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"content": "is pathetic. In fact, in the Ninth Parliament, we almost had fist fights because I got them that time when I came to Parliament and I told them “you.” So, what they did is that they then wanted to expand their homes, so, they told people around themselves in the indigenous homes that they had found land in the Mau. So, they shifted their neighbours, settled them in the Mau and took up their land. When the former Prime Minister and retired President Kibaki started removing these squatters, these squatters were going to go back home and reclaim their pieces of land and the politicians could not allow it. This is where the rain started beating us. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Clause 14 of the Bill is the issue of the remuneration of the Board. I want to submit that this is a very good insertion. This Board must be adequately remunerated because they are going to be sitting on a very important resource; timber is a very important resource. For example, in Kakamega Forest, we have the multimillion timber resource called Omutukuyo ; the Elgon teak. This is the kind of timber that has been misused by some politicians and members of the former Provincial Administration who used to be in charge by literally selling it for their own benefits. In Kakamega, there is one name, if you mention it - may the Lord rest his soul in eternal something – the late Mr. Mburu, the former Provincial Commissioner (PC); he messed our forests completely. It is only thanks to Sen. Haji, when he became the PC, that he brought some semblance of control on the abuse of Kakamega Forest. So, when you hear, Sen. Keter - my brother from Belgut; that Kakamega Forest is being abused, it is not by the people of Kakamega; it was because of elements in the former Provincial Administration. We are now happy that this will now be in the hands of our Governor. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Clause 29 attempts to put in place a County Environmental Committee. In its composition in sub clause 2(a), we are told that every County Environmental Committee shall consist of:- (a) “The member of the County Executive Committee (CEC) in charge of the environment matters who shall be the Chairperson.” Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to speak to this. In the regulations, we should go further and provide that this person who will be chairperson and a member of CEC be none other than the Deputy Governor. This is the most important department if we want Kenya to remain Kenya and not end up being a desert. Some of the Scandinavian countries, Malawi and Britain are very successful in matters of environmental protection. This role that I am proposing that we give to the Deputy Governor is in the office of the President in Malawi, in the office of the Prime Minister in the United Kingdom (UK) and the respective Heads of Governments in the Scandinavian countries. This is just to emphasize how important it is. Mr. Speaker, Sir, for those of us who have had the opportunity to fly over the forest in Malawi, we notice how successful they are in matters of environmental protection at rural level. It is a shame that Malawi in 1963 or 1966 thereabouts, came to learn from Kenya how the Kenya Forest Reserve Department was successful. Today our forests are gone. As I speak now, in Malawi, you go for a period of four kilometres and you see a watch tower. If you go for another four kilometres, you will see a deliberate demarcation between one block of a forest to another block of forest so that when fire 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."
}