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{
    "id": 791932,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/791932/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 86,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ganya",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 18,
        "legal_name": "Francis Chachu Ganya",
        "slug": "francis-ganya"
    },
    "content": "North Horr Constituency is very vast. It is about 8 per cent of Kenya’s land mass and over 38,000 square kilometres. It is larger than some of the four former provinces of Kenya that is, Central, Western and Nyanza and eight Nairobis put together. It has a diameter of 800 kilometres from one corner to the other. Even if you have one centre in North Horr, it will not serve my constituents well because people of Ileret have to travel over 600 kilometres to Marsabit Town, which is our county headquarters, to secure that vital document. They travel on very bad roads. There is no tarmac at all. Such times like now when we are experiencing very heavy rainfall, it might not even be passable for the next three months or so because they have to travel through the Chalbi Desert to get to Marsabit. So, as I support the Motion that says that it is necessary to establish these centres in all our constituencies, I think some unique and vast constituencies like mine and Laisamis, Wajir and others should be considered to have even more centres if, indeed, Kenyans are to benefit from Government programmes. A birth certificate or identity card is not a privilege or a favour. It is a right for every Kenyan and our Government has a duty to provide this service to our citizens. In other parts of the world – and I was fortunate enough to live in the United States of America (USA) for eight years where I went to school – even in small villages you can go into offices and get these vital documents. You actually apply for your passport through postal service. You do not have to go to Washington DC or any of those big cities for you to acquire those vital documents. It is possible to have those kinds of programmes in this country. Of course, we have a much smaller economy. We cannot say we can gain the kind of service that they provide to their citizens. However, we can do better particularly those of us who live along the porous borders whether it is the Kenya-Ethiopia border, the Kenya-Somalia border or the Kenya-South Sudan border. We are highly marginalised. Because of the foreigners who come into this country, even our people are treated as foreigners and it has become very difficult for Kenyans who live along these borders to acquire the documents. Once this Motion is passed, I strongly encourage our Committee on Implementation to ensure that this service is available to Kenyans in six months. The National Assembly should provide enough resources in the Budget for us to ensure that whatever we have agreed and passed in this House, especially on the registration centres in every constituency, is fully funded and operationalised. I support the Motion."
}