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"content": "Rift Valley, we have had the Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) and the one passing through Samburu going all the way to Isiolo. So many authorities have been there, dealing with this. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as we discuss and approve this Bill, it is important to take stock of what these other authorities have done. Have there been any results, at all, to mitigate drought? In my county, KVDA was assigned and was supposed to make sure service dams are constructed as well as make huge dams on the flowing rivers, so that water can be utilized for irrigation purposes and so on. Unfortunately, most of these authorities have not lived to the standards that they were actually created for. Some of them have become employment bureaus for political leaders and class around those regions where they are. So many people are dumped into those authorities to the extent that the very objective they were put there disappears. It, therefore, means that although we are looking at this one, we are calling it the NDMA, in Nairobi, but the problems are in the counties. We expect that as this one is set up, also small, little authorities that specifically deal with issues to do with drought in counties are going to be assisted by this main umbrella body, the NDMA. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, right now, as a result of the 2014 drought, most pastoralists in the northern part of Kenya and the Rift Valley have greatly suffered to the extent that they have migrated with their animals looking for pasture and water. As a result, a lot of misunderstanding has arisen. For example, when you move within the environs of Nairobi, you will see pastoralists of Maasai origin moving around with their livestock, looking for water and grass. We have been in existence as a nation for over 50 years, but we have never internalized to accept that we shall never remove pastoralism from the hearts of the people who practice it. Instead of taking the relevant measures to make sure that drought effects are fully mitigated and contained so that we have water and grass in some of the regions, we have not bothered at all. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, right now, in Baringo and Laikipia counties, there is a big problem because the Pokot and Samburu communities are being looked at as though they are invaders of farms that have grass and water. This is the time we should be able to look at this situation critically rather than condemn the people who are moving around with their animals. We should have some dams that contain some water. Fortunately, every year, we get sufficient water in Kenya which runs all the way to the Indian Ocean, Lake Victoria and from where I come from, most of it, flows into Lake Turkana. The people of Turkana and West Pokot have been completely left at the mercy of drought and yet if we were able to harvest some of that water, we would be using it for irrigation. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there was an ambitious programme by the Jubilee Coalition Government of putting one million acres of land under crop production. This was in order to mitigate hunger which is also associated with drought amongst Kenyans. We know some of the most notorious counties where hunger is a big problem. Every year the Ministry concerned – it used to be called the Ministry for Northern Kenya, but now it is housed in the Ministry for Devolution – should know that food has to be bought. Right now, up to 50,000 families as at last week, are in need of food aid from the Government. The Government has no choice, but to feed these people because they belong to this country. 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."
}