Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 788337,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/788337/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 139,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Manje",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1669,
        "legal_name": "Joseph Wathigo Manje",
        "slug": "joseph-wathigo-manje"
    },
    "content": "The cost of power is very expensive for households and small scale businesses. They have realised that the cost of doing business is a bit high. Security is also affected because we find areas without light experience a lot of thuggery. This means that lighting those areas is very expensive. Kenya has been relying on hydro and geo-thermo electricity. It is high time we looked at other sources for example coal. As the Chair has said, the Lamu coal power project has stalled because the Government has not compensated land owners in Lamu. As the Chairman has said, that project stalled because the Government did not compensate the owners of land in Pate Island. They needed to be compensated so that the coal production can start. I remember during public participation, the investors said that they have been holding on to their money for the last three years without using because they expect the Government to compensate people and then they can start work. There is also need to look at the way they can generate electricity using solar. It is catching up. In Nairobi, you have to install solar system in new developments to power the water heating system. This is the way to go. There is also wind power we have to exploit. In the long run, there will be nuclear energy. I think there is a sector that is already laying a strategy to see whether or not the country can use nuclear energy in the future. Currently, 70 per cent of the energy in Kenya is produced by biomass. I am talking about charcoal, firewood and all that. It has repercussions. It has side effects to the country. The clearing of forests is happening. Also, I think we should change because if we have to continue relying on biomass, it means we will not achieve the development that is targeted. While going around, we also found that we have to consider the local content. Every company that starts energy business has to consider the local content because this is a very emotive area, especially when it comes to petroleum. Recently, the country discovered petroleum in Turkana. When you talk to the people on the ground, you realise that the discovery of petroleum is, indeed, an emotive issue. The locals would like to get a very high percentage of the proceeds from the product. We should make sure that when a resource is discovered in an area, it should also benefit the local people. We should see development in that local area. Hospitals and schools should be built in that area and also the general infrastructure of that particular area should be improved. Our experience needs to be different from what other African countries with minerals, for example gold, have been experiencing. The people within those belts with minerals do not benefit. You find that minerals are extracted and yet they do not change the living standards of people within that area for the better. We should be able to take care of that problem. We should get this concept from the word go. Otherwise, in the long run, it might turn to be a curse as we have witnessed in other African countries. Why has it become a curse in other countries like Nigeria? Do you remember the Biafra war? It is because of the local content. The people from the area where minerals are exploited most times feel left out because they do not benefit from their minerals. There is also the general feeling that people come to exploit the area without ploughing back what belongs to the local communities. Be that as it may, the local community also needs to be rational and know that this country belongs to all of us. Places like Lamu and Turkana are part and parcel of Kenya and the resources used to do this exploration – because it is a very expensive undertaking – also belong 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."
}