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{
    "id": 660731,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/660731/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 257,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "May 31, 2016 SENATE DEBATES 46 Sen. Murungi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I rise to second this Bill. In so doing, first, I would like to thank most profusely the Senate Majority Leader, the Senator for Tharaka-Nithi who is also the spokesman of the Kingdom of Meru for ably moving this Bill. He has taken us through the Bill. So, I do not want to repeat what he has said. However, we all need to understand that there are about five key water towers in the country which are around the national gazetted forest areas that are being protected by this Bill. In addition to other benefits which are enumerated in the Bill, the entire ecosystem of the country, rainfall patterns, and agriculture would be determined by the manner in which we protect our forests. The Bill is not being discussed in a vacuum because a Forest Service Act which was enacted before the current Constitution already exists. There exists a Kenya Forest Service (KFS), which in my view, considering the past which I am aware of; where there was massive destruction of forests in this country, we should commend the current KFS. We no longer hear of massive logging and destruction of forests in our areas. Bhang was being planted in the forest. That has considerably reduced. Therefore, we have to commend the KFS for the good work that they are doing. This Bill brings the existing legislation in protection of our forests in line with the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. The main innovation that was brought by that Constitution is devolution. Right now, I cannot say that the devolved units of this country are in any way involved in conservation and management of forests in this country. There is plenty of confusion on the ground as to the roles of KFS and county governments who also have a mandate under the Constitution to participate in conservation and management of forest resources. So, I am very happy to note that under Clause 21 of this Bill, the county government is given a very specific role in the management and conservation of forests within its jurisdiction. Madam Temporary Speaker, what is missing in the Bill is the fact that in the constitution of the national forest service, there is no participation or representation from the county governments. Indeed, the representation is top heavy, it consists of the Chairperson appointed by the President, four Principal Secretaries, four people appointed by the Cabinet Secretary but there is not even one person in the KFS representing the interest of the county government. Therefore, it is our duty as Senators who represent county governments to amend this Bill in the Committee Stage to include representation of the county governments in the KFS. We have done it in the past. We have been considering the Fisheries Act where a similar mistake had been made. We had proposed that two or three people appointed by the Council of Governors (CoG) sit in the national service. Therefore, even in this Bill I recommend that amendments be made to include representatives of the CoG in the national forest service so that the interest of the county governments is taken into account even as they make the policies. Secondly, one of the areas of contention is that there will be various benefits that will accrue from use of forest resources. This is exploitation of wood, timber, licensing and granting of concessions for tourism and recreation facilities. However, currently, it is the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) which negotiates those concessions and sometimes pays 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"
}