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{
    "id": 767208,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/767208/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 198,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Tharaka-Nithi, Laikipia and West Pokot counties. All these are semi-arid parts of this country. So, we are talking about a big chunk of this country. If we go back a bit in history, you realize that these areas have been marginalized systematically, especially in the northern Kenya. When the colonialists came in, they kind-of used those areas as a buffer zone between countries like Ethiopia and Somalia and what we call the white highlands, where they thought that is where the productive part of this country is. That is where they took land. Their policy has always been a policy of containment and not engagement, and that is how the areas were marginalized. Even when we got independence as a country, the same marginalization continued. I am just trying to bring to the attention of this House that what we are dealing with is something we have to tackle deliberately as Kenyans, because we know the history of that part of the country. In 1965, Sessional Paper No.10 stated very clearly that to let the economy of the country as a whole to grow as fast as possible, development money should be invested where it will yield the highest increase in net output. This approach will clearly favor development of areas having abundant natural resources, good land, rainfall, transport, power facilities and where people are receptive to development. So, this actually led to targeting of only those areas which are along the transport and the power facilities. That is why we say that development is only along the railway line from Mombasa to Malaba then to Nanyuki. Development is concentrated 50 kilometers around that railway line. Transport and electricity power were developments introduced by the colonialists. They did not introduce these developments in these other areas. However, the Kenyan government used these factors as a basis for development; and that is already double tragedy as we call it, because we were marginalized by the colonialists then our own government used that basis to marginalize us again. For many years, our way of life as pastoralists has been considered as an irrational and economically destructive way of life. Therefore, the government did not actually invest in it. So, we could not move out of that mobile pastoralism for the last 50 years because the government did not come up with any policy. If it came up with policies of how to improve the quality of the animals and how to create disease free zones, then that form of livelihood would have been enhanced and it would have contributed to the development of this country. Funds would have been allocated to that part of the country and now we would not be having this issue. However, I am not saying that the government did not do any targeting. There are cases where, like in 1980, an ASAL section was created in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development which did not also concentrate much on the real problems. We also had a Ministry of Reclamation and Development of Arid Semi-Arid and Waste lands which was created in 1989, which also just implemented some donor projects. It did not go far because it was later was merged with the Ministry of Rural Development. But in 1996, the Arid Lands Resource Management Program or project was started which basically targeted those areas which were not favored by the donors. A case in point is Mandera and Wajir counties, which actually got the first serious project from the government through that project. When it was extended, at least it also assisted those arid areas which were not favored by the donors. 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."
}