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{
    "id": 615481,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/615481/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 73,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Abdalla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 382,
        "legal_name": "Amina Ali Abdalla",
        "slug": "amina-abdalla"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, this House adopts Sessional Paper No. 12 of 2014 on the National Wetlands and Conservation Management Policy, laid on the Table of the House on Tuesday, 2nd December 2014. Whereas I agree with you that the issues that have been raised on the two previous policies are very similar - in fact, the environment policy includes a wetlands component - I wish to highlight to the House that wetlands are natural areas that are seasonally or permanently flooded and comprise 3 to 4 per cent of our land mass. The coverage fluctuates to about 6 per cent during rainy seasons and is probably higher during this current El Nino rains. This policy is based on the fact that Kenya has ratified the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, which obligates the country to formulate and implement policies that promote the conservation of wetlands. The process of developing this policy started in 1999 and ended in 2008. We have been operating with a draft policy since then. Based on that, I congratulate the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Environment and Natural Resources because she went into the Ministry and found over 10 draft policies that she has been able to conclude. The issue of importance is the fact that there is a lot of encroachment into our wetlands and transformation of wetlands for other uses. In fact, for my Committee, the development of urban areas on wetlands happens to be the largest source of contention with the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). Whereas this policy is well written and has been long in development, there are a few areas that I would like the House to note. As a Committee, we feel that this policy would be more enriched. We are presenting the Report to the Ministry so that they can amend some of the provisions in the policy. The most important issue is the fact that there is no clarity on the institution to implement this framework, especially with regard to the challenge of people encroaching on wetlands. For example, people who put up expensive developments on the Kibagare River claim that they have title deeds. This means the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development is involved in taking away wetlands of national or local importance and giving them to developers. When the developers want to develop the areas, they send their plans to NEMA with a title deed. NEMA is not supposed to give approval without the involvement of the Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA). However, the institutional arrangement between NEMA, WARMA and the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development is lacking and it is being highlighted in this policy as a challenge. That is the biggest challenge that wetlands face right now. So, whereas we have a beautiful policy, the question of who is responsible for bringing proposed legislation and implementing those pieces of legislation is left out. The Committee observes that, that is lacking. The Committee also notes that the policy does not address emerging issues. For example, there is oil exploration in wetlands. Even if you own land close to a river, you do not own the 30 metres between the river and where your land is. If somebody comes to drill close to a river, lake or water marsh that belongs to the national Government, because that is what the Constitution says, what is the national policy relating to how that 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."
}