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{
    "id": 616874,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/616874/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 191,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. ole Kenta",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 420,
        "legal_name": "Richard Moitalel ole Kenta",
        "slug": "richard-moitalel-ole-kenta"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I really appreciate. I would like to join my colleagues in supporting the Bill because it is very important. When we talk about Kenya Forest Service (KFS), it is very crucial at this time because forests, as we all know, create livelihoods. Forests give us clean environment and more than anything else, actually balances nature and how we relate with it. I come from Narok North Constituency. I think Kenyans, if not the whole world, have been witnessing floods that have destroyed property and killed people. As somebody rightly said, this is because of the destruction of the Mau Forest. A few people got into the forest, allocated themselves land that did not belong to them, made fake titles deeds and proceeded to destroy the forest. I have always insisted that while we think that we are benefiting from the destruction of nature, we are actually killing ourselves. When you look at the effects, it does not just affect Narok. It even affects the coffee plantations in Upper Rift Valley and the tea plantations in the neighbouring Bomet and Kericho counties, Lake Magadi, Maasai Mara as well as farming activities in the whole county. I believe that if we are serious about compensating those people in order for them to come out of the forest, we will be getting somewhere. Those who sold forest land to unsuspecting Kenyans must be called upon to refund the monies that they received, in addition to being prosecuted for alienating land which did not belong to them. The Act sets out the functions of the KFS and the Board. I believe that there should be an additional Member from the affected community because they have given the national committee organisations only one slot. I believe that they deserve two or three slots because they remain stakeholders. The other issue is on conservation management of forests. Whilst the KFS gets all the part, it is also important that the communities living around forests, who are the real owners of those forests, benefit and play a role in their conservation. We have seen, for example in the Mau Forest, that KWS rangers have abandoned their job of taking care of wild animals and started logging and burning charcoal, among others things. I wonder what we are doing. As a country, we have lost it because playing politics with forests is playing politics with our lives. Professional forests are forests whereby an individual can give it to another individual or even to the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to run for a particular time to ensure that the forests are replenished. I believe that is a very important thing. More than anything else, I believe that instead of just talking about boundaries of forests, we should ensure that we keep those boundaries intact and ensure that nobody gets into the forest because boundaries have been abused. 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."
}