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{
    "id": 676525,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/676525/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 308,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "we can have a way of harnessing rain water that we get--- This is because Kenya is not rain water deficient. A precipitation of 1500 millimetres is very high. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I was just reading a comparison between Kenya and Yemen the other day. Yemen has a precipitation of just about 50 millimetres and their main source of water is rain water. Therefore, one wonders why for example major urban centres like Nairobi have not made it a policy that everybody who puts up a house so that we ease the pressure on main water supply sets up a tank. This is because it is much easier and much cheaper for us to harvest it. For some reason, people tend to think that rain water is unsafe. I have just indicated that I have lived in a neighbourhood in Nairobi which is considered to be among the upper-class neighbourhoods but have never had running water for the last 13 years. We basically use rain water and to the best of my knowledge it is very safe. This is because these days, methods of water treatment make water safe and within the bracket that it can be consumed by humans is very cheap. We have very cheap ways of maintaining water hygiene. I think this Motion is very good. However, I would request my friend and I have discussed with him that we go in this direction. Even as we go this direction, the question must be asked. This is an extremely good Motion because it touches on the lives of every Kenyan in this country particularly young people. As we discuss this Motion, we have to go back and look at where we have come from. We have discussed similar Motions before. There was a Motion here which was put to provide 20 kilometres of roads to every constituency in the country per year. It was passed and the House resolved but none of that is happening now. In the first year there was an attempt by the Constituency Roads Committees (CRCs). At least, mine made proposals on the twenty kilometres of roads that they were to do but nothing is happening. This House must refuse to be seen as an institution which is no more than a mere talk- shop. We make resolutions. This House represents the will of the people. When we pass this Motion, the people of Kenya have spoken because all the 40 million Kenyans cannot come to this House to debate this Motion. That is why we are constitutionally speaking on behalf of the people of Kenya. I would have thought that by going presidential, resolutions of Parliament would have more weight in terms of implementation but it is curious that these days we debate an important Motion such as this one and immediately the House votes on it, that is as far as it goes. Why then would we be utilising valuable time to go about this? Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I highly support this Motion and I would be requesting my good friend, Hon. Mwadime that we make that small amendment so that instead of providing tapped water, we talk about providing clean safe water to all our schools. It is not just the schools. It is a fact that even by taking electricity to schools, the immediate neighbourhood benefits. There are many parts of this country where getting tapped water may be very expensive. Let us look at the economics of what would happen if we were merely to harvest rain water which is available and comes freely from God. All we need to do is to have reservoirs which can store the water, do some little treatment and our children and the neighbouring community would be able to have clean and safe water for their use. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I support and urge this House, especially the Committee on Implementation to ensure that this Motion gets its way into the policy frameworks of this nation. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker."
}