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{
    "id": 666000,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/666000/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 148,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ganya",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 18,
        "legal_name": "Francis Chachu Ganya",
        "slug": "francis-ganya"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. At the outset, I strongly support this Motion by Hon. William Cheptumo on declaring cattle rustling a national disaster as well as establishing a fund for victims of cattle rustling. I represent North Horr Constituency in the northern part of Kenya where cattle rustling is still very common. For sure, as a nation, it is time for us to call cattle rustling a national disaster. As pastoralists, we have lost so many people to cattle rustling. Lives have been lost in thousands and livelihoods have been shattered. Today, we have many IDP families who have lost everything to cattle rustling and are just surviving on relief food. They have lost all their livelihoods – all their goats, sheep, cows and camels have been taken away by cattle rustlers. Sometimes, like in my case, the problem comes largely from our neighbours from the southern part of Ethiopia. It is time that, as a country, we need to deal with this issue. For a long time, our Government has treated cattle rustling as just a small problem among pastoralists – an aspect of our culture or our environment, when it is actually total destruction of lives and livelihoods. It should have been treated like any other crime or problem in this country. When Mungiki killed Kenyans in parts of Kiambu and Murang’a, it was a national disaster. Pastoralists are killed in hundreds and nobody even mentions it. It is said: “It is just their cultural habit or what they are used to do. It is part of their living.” That is not true. This is the time for Kenyans to see cattle rustling as a crisis and the Government should invest heavily in doing away with the problem of cattle rustling. A special fund for victims, for sure, is one way to go. More than that, why do we not invest heavily in terms of development among the pastoralists so that those young men who are cattle rustlers have other options in life? For instance, the National Youth Service (NYS) could go to parts of northern Kenya and hire all those young men who are cattle rustlers to do something productive with their lives. They can get some income from working in Jua Kali or any other investment from which they can make a living. I strongly think there will be very few pastoralists who will engage in cattle rustling. I will just give you one example from Marsabit. Today, as you know, the Turkana wind firm is putting up a very big power station producing about 300 megawatts of wind power in northern parts of Kenya. That firm has hired most of the"
}