Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 552015,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/552015/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 230,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "May 21st, 2015 SENATE DEBATES 38 Sen. Billow",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I rise to support this important Motion. The issue of wildlife is very important to this country and we appreciate it as Kenyans. That is why we have very many national parks and reserves, and we have had a history of wildlife conservation that I think is unmatched in the region. Of course, we are also aware that wildlife is the main tourist attraction in this country and, therefore, very significant to our economy. Historically, we have also had challenges in terms of dealing with not just wildlife, but those people who have been mandated to deal with wildlife. I know in the 1980s when poaching was rampant in this country, KWS had been mandated in some regions to act in exactly the same way they are now acting in Isiolo. Groups of KWS officers, complete with their transport, were roaming literally as bandits, picking up suspected poachers and instead of taking them to court, they literally executed, tortured and punished them. That exercise was the reason for the infamous burning of part of Garissa. One of those suspects was subjected to such painful torture that he ultimately ended up killing several security officers. What followed was the infamous attack on Bula in Garissa, in which Government security forces rounded up many people and burnt up the area. That history is a very dark one that we should not go back to. Madam Temporary Speaker, we should not allow KWS to behave in the manner that they are behaving. First, KWS should appreciate that their role should not just be regulatory; it should be facilitative because this is a venture that is supposed to benefit the economy. We have wildlife living side by side with humans–farmers and other people and the fact that they are living peacefully with animals is the reason why you need to reward those people. In fact, KWS needs to have corporate social responsibility which it does not have. They are literally trained as security officers who are there merely to punish. You cannot conserve wildlife when you have people whose mandate includes nothing but to torture, punish and kill. That is not the way to conserve wildlife. For ages, humans have learned to live with wildlife and there has been no problem. They learned to share even before these governments and national parks were created. I think the manner in which KWS is now exercising its mandate by behaving in the manner that it is behaving – causing the kind of suffering and pain that has been mentioned in this Motion – is regrettable. Madam Temporary Speaker, first and foremost, KWS should know that they have failed Kenyans. In fact, that institution is the single most important failure in this country today. If this Government was to act – unfortunately it does not – on those institutions which are non-performing and have failed to deliver, it is the board of the KWS that would have been dealt with. This is because in the last few months, we received reports daily of thousands of animals being killed particularly elephants and rhinos. In the research that has been done by KWS itself, it is clearly documented that over 80 per cent of the poaching is, in fact, taking place in the private parks and reserves. Not even in the public parks and yet members of those private parks or reserves are the people who sit in the board of KWS. They know when the time is good; when the prices of ivory are high. Therefore, you cannot rule out the possibility that all the extensive and massive poaching of wildlife going on could be an internal matter. There is a possibility 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."
}