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{
    "id": 800234,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/800234/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 54,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity to contribute to this Motion. For a start, I join you in welcoming the students from Nandi County who are in the Gallery. I congratulate the Senator for Nakuru County for the commitment she has shown to the people who elected her since this tragedy occurred. I also support the creation of a Committee to look at what happened but with a caution that; if you go through the HANSARDS of this Parliament and the records, there have been many Committees. If there is no follow-up mechanism to enforce the recommendations of the committees, it just becomes a statistic. I urge this House that we bring back the Implementation Committee so that if the recommendations from this Committee come, we follow them to the end. What happened in Solai is not an act of God but that of a human being. They have told us of a Mr. Patel, his managers and so on. The problem in this country is not shortage of laws or regulations. The problem in this country is a shortage of those with the ability to enforce the laws to the letter. After this tragedy, that man called Patel and his managers committed several criminal offences. The least offence that would have been preferred against this man is criminal negligence. A very simple misdemeanor; not even that has been preferred. Malicious damage to property or murder - even that has not been preferred. If you hold a volume of water and it releases such venom on the public, that is malice aforethought and it leads to murder. Nobody has talked about that. I am sure after this debate which he is probably watching, Patel will enjoy his evening beer with a policeman who should be arresting and prosecuting him. That is the tragedy of this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are told 48 lives were lost. I encourage the Senator for Nakuru County not to lose sight of also the properties that were destroyed. This is because not only lives of human beings were lost but their properties. Their animals have been swept away, houses destroyed, farms rendered unproductive and they are now destitute. Let me tell you; looking to Government for compensation without arm-twisting it will not work. We have a history of everybody turning up looking very sorry and holy, saying all manner of things, like, “No stone will be left unturned until we get to the bottom of this,” and it all ends with the cameras going off and we walk away. That is Kenya for you. That is the impunity that the Senator for Nairobi County has been talking about. Why has anybody in WARMA not been suspended or prosecuted? Even we, as lawyers, we are licensed to practice law and you renew your licence every year. So, you are not given a licence to construct and own a dam ad infinitum . It must be inspected and renewed annually. Have these dams been inspected? Have the licences been renewed? If they have not been inspected, who is responsible? If they have been renewed fraudulently, who is responsible? These are the big questions that we must be asking. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}