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{
    "id": 571573,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/571573/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 170,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, recently, a lot of oil was discovered in my neighbouring County of Turkana. However, employees may be coming from far away from the county and sometimes from outside the country because we do not have people trained in that field. If we have to stimulate the economy of our counties and Kenya in general, we have to see how universities can be established in counties at whatever cost. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you remember, Karatina was just a small place before a branch of Moi University was established there. However, as soon as the branch was established, courses are now being offered on tourism as well as wildlife management because in Mt. Kenya region, there is a lot of wildlife. Today, the economy of the region has simply improved because of the universities around there. There is Chuka University, Meru University and Dedan Kimathi University. These universities offer courses that relate to issues that affect the people around them. Further, during holidays whenever students are not in session, the facilities are used by relevant departments and schools to train the local community on farming and other things. Therefore, this is one factor that will fast-track Kenya to the Vision 2030 that we are talking about. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Fourth Schedule of the Constitution is about devolved functions. Most of the functions that would stimulate growth in our country and lift up the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) were devolved. Agriculture which includes crop and animal husbandry is one of them. It is only its policy which is still under the national Government. That, therefore, means that the GDP which is heavily driven by agriculture will be much higher if there is a centre of excellence in each county where niche courses are offered. That will lead to production of relevant products by the counties. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are many people who have been employed by county governments. Some of them are running very key departments but they have not been trained on the same. For example, the County Executive Committee (CEC) members in charge of livestock or agriculture. If there was a university nearby, it could have been easier for the CECs to tailor-make courses for them in collaboration with the university the way the University of Eldoret and Egerton University do to the surrounding people. Nakuru County has benefited a lot from the presence of Kabarak and Egerton universities. Every now and then, you will find employees being taken there for training and benchmarking to see some of the research crops being undertaken. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like a university to be established in West Pokot County. Livestock and animal husbandry should be part of the syllabus because this is the mainstay; the driver of the economy of my county. West Pokot County contributes greatly to the economy of Kenya. For your information, most of the meat supplied to western Kenya; that is Kakamega, Bungoma, Trans Nzoia and even here in Nairobi comes from West Pokot County. Every Friday, we normally transport livestock to this place. However, we want livestock to be top niche grade product. We require a university that teaches skills and techniques on how to increase animal production like in Botswana. If we were using modern techniques, then, we could export some of the livestock products that we produce in our counties. 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."
}