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{
    "id": 64696,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/64696/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 449,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Shakeel",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 140,
        "legal_name": "Ahmed Shakeel Shabbir Ahmed",
        "slug": "shakeel-shabbir"
    },
    "content": "Thank you Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I am pleased that, finally, this Bill has been proposed and it is now on the Floor of this House. As I had said, it is long overdue. The fact of the matter is that, as the Minister for Livestock Development has said, there is a shortage of people who serve animals. Whether one is a veterinary officer or an animal health specialist, he or she is offering a service to the livestock sector. I beg to differ with the Minister. There are quacks in every profession. However, some of the quacks come in because there is no one to give the service. We call them quacks because they are not qualified. They do not understand anything and they lack the qualifications. However, over 80 per cent of them know what they are doing. Over 80 per cent of them, perhaps, know more in practice than the veterinary surgeons who have just graduated from the universities. I have worked with the Maasai Community and I have seen quacks being called veterinary officers. We have been a little harsh with them. They have not been trained for only two weeks. Many of them have been trained for a much longer period than that. They form part and parcel of the community and they offer a service that is not available in the rural areas. Our veterinary officers and doctors are in a class of their own. They are specialized and walk around in suits. They love to be in a place where they can get money after taking care of a dog or a cat. That is not what they were trained to do, Dr. Wekesa. I know that you were once on the ground. I think that is what used to happen during post-colonial times. Earlier on, after Independence, veterinary services were very strong. Those officers would go everywhere. They would carry out cattle dipping and many other veterinary exercises. However, our mood has changed. We have dropped the importance of animals as part and parcel of the Kenyan lifestyle except, of course, the nomadic communities. There was a time during in my youth when animals were a very major part and parcel of the society, whether it was in the town or in the rural areas. Nowadays, you will find that in a town like Kisumu, which is so expansive--- Way past Kisumu, veterinary officers go to farmers and tell them that they are not supposed to be in Kisumu and yet they are in the rural areas. You will even see a Minister here joking about cattle in Kisumu. We have to get past that. Cities are just borders lines. Many animals are not found in the cities. There are also animals in Nairobi City. However, the city is expansive. I would like to say that my interaction with nomadic communities has mostly been with the Maasai and the Samburus. The services are provided to them by professionals and veterinary officers who have diplomas and basic education in animal health management. After the Second World War in Britain and Europe--- I know about Britain because I studied there – my principal was a Chartered Accountant but he never sat for any examinations because during the Second World War, he was in the army. He worked for long and when he came back, the Board gave him an honorary membership. That is one of the things that are not covered here. There are non-professional qualified veterinary doctors who have a great amount of experience. Some of these are now getting into their 50s and 60s. You do not want to ask them to start taking a basic two year degree because they are way past that. This Bill must allow those people who have adequate knowledge and expertise in veterinary medicine and animal management to be given some sort of variation to join the field, subject to verification and proving of their skills."
}