Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 797888,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/797888/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 262,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "the opinion polls on corruption and get serious towards ensuring that corrupt cases are investigated and handed over to the DPP for prosecution. The President talked about the economy. In the past, people have criticized him for talking about the economy at the State of the Nation Address. However, part of our national values is sustainable development. How I wish in future that as the President talks about the growth in the economy, he will be talking about the sustainability of that growth. Are we using our environment sustainably? If we exploit it today for tourism, production and to feed the nation, will we have it tomorrow? Is our debt sustainable? Is our development sustainable enough for the youth of this country to have a guaranteed future? If we are building the SGR, how sustainable is that debt or the project or is it the case of a peasant who got money from a tea bonus and decided to buy a Land Rover and is not sure how we will fuel it in future? One cannot deny that in Kenya the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. On the Big Four Agenda, it is our responsibility as the Senate to make sure that we draw a line between the national Government projects and county projects. All the Big Four Agenda items, that is, housing, food security, manufacturing and healthcare are devolved. How will we make sure that as the national Government pursues these four interesting and impressive agenda, it does not encroach in the mandate of counties? One of the things that come out of the Big Four Agenda is that part of manufacturing is hinged on textile industry which assumes that BT cotton will be produced in this country. The county I represent used to be one of the leading producers of cotton in this country because we are blessed with black cotton soil. However, the traditional variety of cotton cannot do well because the pests love them and they take much longer. We are excited that the President and the national Government is talking about BT cotton. Unfortunately, it is still at field trial stage. It is time we opened up the debate on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Even the foul armyworm that is devastating farms throughout the country, experts are telling us that there are certain GMOsand varieties that can resist it but not the traditional varieties that we have. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the debate around GMO and scientific innovations in food security sometimes remind me of the debate of the automobile. When the first automobile hit the road the host carriage manufacturers were very scared. They came up with a law and made it mandatory that if someone owned an automobile, it had to be operated by three people, one person would drive it, the second would be an engineer in case it fails and the third person would clear the way so that the auto mobile could not knock down horses. These are the kinds of restrictions we are putting for people who are carrying out scientific research on food productivity. This is a debate that we should open. With regard to security, last night I watched President Trump talk about the American Government’s withdrawal from the Iran agreement. Somalia was mentioned by the President. A discussion on Somalia is not an admission of cowardice. We rehatted to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM); we need to have a conversation on the long-term prospects of our boys wearing the hat in Somalia."
}