Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 788081,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/788081/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 117,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Dr.) Ounda",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13331,
        "legal_name": "Wilberforce Ojiambo Oundo",
        "slug": "wilberforce-ojiambo-oundo-2"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker. It is an opportune moment that I have to speak after the Member of Parliament for Mwea. I must admit that I was intimately involved in that project before I came here. As I rise to support this Bill, there are a few fundamental issues in the irrigation process that we must interrogate as a country and put right. The issue of compensation cuts across irrigation schemes and other Government projects. We must address them as a nation and comply with the constitutional requirements. Compensation must be fair, just and prompt. For record purposes, the valuation for Thiba Dam was initially done in 2012. Surprisingly, it is almost eight years down the line and the compensation process is not complete. We urge the Government to move with speed because the more you delay, the more you disenfranchise and inconvenience land owners who willingly or unwillingly agree to surrender their land for the purpose of the project. Moving to the Bill, I must commend the drafters of the Bill for a job well done and the fresh thinking on irrigation issues in this country. We must start from the point that food is a basic human right and is something that was even declared a national concern at Independence. But it is surprising that all these years down the line, Kenya has become increasingly a food deficient country compared to a food sufficient country at the turn of Independence. This has been a culmination of so many other issues but, principally, it has been the continued and wanton destruction of our forests that has affected rain in the country and other parts within the region. Of course, the issue of climatic change has contributed to this factor. Obviously, the only recourse for food security lies in other technologies and approaches that become necessary to provide sufficient water for crop production throughout the year. When we were growing up, there was this basic slogan we used to have that “necessity is the mother of invention”. It is time the country took to irrigation as a solution to the perennial food shortage that is caused by unreliable or failed rains. Generally speaking, most of the land in Kenya is not arable. Only a few parts of the country can sustain food production while relying on rainfall. Even in those areas, we have heard many reports of failed crops because the rain is unreliable. It is commendable that there have been very many irrigation projects that have been started in the past after realizing the challenges we have had with rain-fed agriculture. But it is also disheartening that most of them have failed along the line and, consequently, ensuring that public funds have gone to waste without any recourse. We remember Perkerra, Bura, Ahero and so many other irrigation schemes that have failed over time. We hope this Bill will replace the old Bill and bring a new authority that will have the courage, capacity and the know-how to manage irrigation schemes professionally for the benefit of the people in those particular areas. 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."
}