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    "id": 639778,
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    "content": "that may not relate so directly to the Bill. I challenge all the Members who had suggestions contrary to what the Bill is at the moment to prepare and bring their amendments at the Committee Stage so that we have a final product that is useful in terms of management of this sector. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, currently, we have the Agriculture and Fisheries Act that captures a number of these issues. Many of them will be replaced by the enactment of this Bill. I, therefore, challenge Members to also look into those issues so that when we come to harmonization of this Bill and the other Acts, we will appreciate the new changes that have come in place. As I said in my moving notes, the sector of fisheries is an untapped sector. The amount of resources that we have in the exclusive economic zones is able to add up to Kshs500 billion to our economy yearly if we only embrace modern technology and attract foreign investors to this sector. We also need to protect the natural resources that are God given because they are not for us alone, but for our children and those of our children. We are borrowing the resources for the future generations. It is important for us to also put in place proper mechanisms to ensure that they are properly protected. The proposed Kenya Fisheries Service is very important. However, many people raised issues about this institution being for the national Government and not for the counties. We need to appreciate that this is an inter-governmental body. There will be representation of the county governments in it. In the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, protection of natural and development of those natural resources is basically the function of the national Government; dealing with territorial waters, security related matters and protecting territory but to the extent that fisheries and fish development is important to the local economy and the people of this country, it is important that there is an institution that harmonizes that responsibility. I have always insisted since I came to this House, that devolution is not county governments; county assemblies or county executive. It is a higher and bigger concept. It permeates both levels of Government. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Article 174 of the Constitution provides that through devolution, you can take services of both the national and county governments to the local level. It also provides that it takes services closer to mwananchi . So, if you have an institution that is already marrying the roles of national and county government together; that is already bringing the representation of national and county government together, then, it plays a critical role in ensuring that we have a harmonized mechanism for running our fisheries sector. I propose an amendment; the representation of county governments in the board of the Kenya Fisheries Services should be increased so that you have three or four people representing county governments. Again, the Bill provides for representation of persons who have interests in matters related to fisheries, those who come from that sector, those who have studied that area or experts in that area. It is very important that it is incorporated so that everything that will be done, whether it is a national or a county function, it has a representation of the membership that is of quality enough to ensure that the interests of counties have been observed. These institutions protect these interests. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, budgeting of resources to these institutions is a 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"
}