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{
    "id": 777448,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/777448/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 131,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Josphat Wachira",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13441,
        "legal_name": "Josphat Kabinga Wachira",
        "slug": "josphat-kabinga-wachira-2"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the appointment of the two officers to the Ministry of Devolution and Planning. I do not know the two gentlemen, but listening to the Chairman of the Committee, I have no doubt that they will handle this Ministry in the right way. This is a very important Ministry. It is the Ministry that we all look forward to in execution of its mandate, especially now that we have drought and hunger in many parts of the country. I have a piece of advice for the two gentlemen. We have a history where whenever we have drought and hunger, we only look at the traditional areas that are usually affected by hunger and drought. I want to advise that our environment is changing, our country is changing, our population is growing and we have many parts of the country that are affected by some of these disasters. I have in mind my own constituency of Mwea, where rivers have dried up. A place called Marurumo has been adversely affected by the fact that River Thiba, which we depend on, is completely dry. I hope the two gentlemen can widen their eyes and look at other areas that may not be traditionally in the list of areas that are affected by drought, but which have since been affected because of environmental changes. I also want to ask the two gentlemen to look at some of the rivers that dry up during the dry spell and become disastrous when it rains. I am particularly referring to River Thiba, which becomes disastrous when it rains. It overflows. As many of the Members in this House may know, Mwea is characterised by villages that are clustered around the rice farms. When Thiba River bursts its banks, we have disasters that need to be mitigated. Therefore, I ask these gentlemen, especially Mr. Nelson Marwa, whom we have heard of and respect, to look at these rivers with a view of finding a way of ensuring that when it rains, they do not affect the villagers and during drought, people downstream continue to have some water. We know that during such periods, people living upstream have a tendency of ensuring that they have water. They draw the water from the main rivers, leaving people downstream without a drop of water. That is what is happening in some parts of my constituency. People in Gategi and Gatwiri all the way to Marurumo and Githoboto are now suffering. I hope the Chair is listening to me. We will send the same message to the two gentlemen as they take up their offices, so that even as we wait for the rains to come, the people can be serviced even if it means doing so using clean water bowsers. Equally, when we come to distribution of relief food, I hope Mwea and Mbeere constituencies will be included in the list of the constituencies that should receive relief food because we are in that category. I support the appointment of Dr. Julius Muia and Mr. Nelson Marwa to this very important Ministry of Devolution and Planning to serve our people equally, knowing that our The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}