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{
    "id": 595335,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/595335/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 337,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kamau",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 35,
        "legal_name": "Jamleck Irungu Kamau",
        "slug": "jamleck-kamau"
    },
    "content": "“Every person has the right to privacy, which includes the right not to have— (a) their person, home or property searched; (b) their possessions seized; (c) information relating to their family or private affairs unnecessarily required or revealed; or, (d) the privacy of their communication infringed.” Clause 44(1) talks about a petroleum agreement. It provides that: “Where the national Government enters into a petroleum agreement, under this Act, it shall do so fairly, equitably, transparently, competitively and cost effectively: Provided that the national Government shall enter into a petroleum agreement only with a contractor who shall have financial, technical and professional capacity necessary to fulfil the contractor’s obligations under the petroleum agreement.” This is not a very big issue, but the stakeholders talked about the definition of “person”. They were saying that if we leave it the way it is then a contractor will mean that it is only those who were previously contracted and not new persons. The Committee will come up with the relevant amendments to deal with this matter. The other provision that has serious ramifications, and which would form the basis of the decision of this House is Clause 58. This clause proposes that Parliament shall ratify the Field Development Plan (FDP) after declaration of commerciality by the contractor and adoption by the Cabinet Secretary (CS). Members may want to understand this provision in terms of what FDP is. It is a plan that is developed after the contractor has been able to verify that, indeed, there is some oil that has been discovered underneath. The FDP shows how the oil is going to be explored. The stakeholders argued that the FDP is a highly technical document which Members of Parliament will find very laborious to deal with. They also argued that it will be a fait accompli because the understanding was that Article 71 of the Constitution, which says that Parliament must ratify any agreements which are made before exploration begins, will be rendered null and void. In essence, there are two sides of argument. On one side, the Ministry is saying that we should ratify the FDP, and on the other side the stakeholders say that it is a technical document and we should ratify the contract to be entered into between the Government and those who will be given the specific blocks. This is another area on which we will also give our views as a Committee when the time comes. Hon. Deputy Speaker, we also heard some other stakeholders; the Kenya Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas. They were more concerned with the cessation of operations. That is under Clause 10 which empowers the Cabinet Secretary (CS) to order cessation of any operations and withdrawal of all persons from any structure or building that is being used in connection with upstream petroleum operations. They wanted to suggest amendments to this section to limit its application only to instances of emergency or safety concerns to prevent arbitrary actions and decisions by the CS that may lead to litigation. Again, that is an area that, perhaps, Members will need to look into as and when they contribute before the House, so that when we go to the Committee of the whole House, we can come up with relevant amendments. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}