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{
    "id": 640753,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/640753/?format=api",
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    "content": "to put incorrect figures in the amounts extracted from these mines. Therefore, the whole country and the communities will lose. So, a word of caution on corruption and record keeping is important. I also want to talk about capacity building. As I speak, we do not have enough capacity for our own people to do mining. The Senate Committee on Energy toured the oil prospecting areas of Turkana. We were amazed to find almost 99 per cent are expatriates. Going to Eldoret, for example, you will find a hotel which is reserved for expatriates who are working in the oil sector. This country lacks capacity. We do not have capacity with regard to people who can do mining. We do not have capacity for people to classify the kind of minerals we are talking about in this House. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is why it is easy for a miner to get a commodity and tell us that it is not what we think it is. It is not gold, but something else because we do not have the capacity. So, capacity building is important in mining. Talk about coal which is in my area. Do we have experts in mining coal in this country? The answer is obviously, no. We have many universities in this country. I want to feel that every area that mining is taking place, one university around that area should be nominated to specialize - this is important- in the kind of mining that goes on in the area. For example, in Kitui County, we have South Eastern Kenya University. Why do we not ensure that in the university, there is a faculty in coal mining so that, at the end of the day, we will have experts in that area? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, why do we not have a faculty dealing with issues of oil in Moi University, Eldoret? In the coastal region where we have a lot of minerals like gold and others, we could have a university offering courses specializing in that field. I emphasize this because all the leakages that we want to prevent will be preventable easily by having our own people taking charge of these mining. This is because no matter what kind of law we put in place, human beings being what they are, we are likely to earn little or nothing from our minerals. We should have our own people with enough capacity to identify the kind of minerals available and ensure that, as Kenyans, we take control of the minerals that are in Kenya. Finally, I want to talk about compensation. Inevitably, people will be moved from their areas where they have settled so that mining can take place. For example, the coal fields in Ukambani. Coal is an extensive mineral and hundreds of acres will be required. Therefore, people will be displaced to give way for this kind of activity. I am advocating for fair compensation and settlement. It is easy to say that we will give you this amount of money so that you can leave. As a representative of the people who have lived in their indigenous land for generations, it will be unfair to tell people to leave a place without proper compensation simply because an investor has been identified. So, I am advocating for proper compensation of persons and their properties before any mining takes place. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, financial compensation may not be sufficient. Therefore, I urge for land in exchange of---"
}