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"content": "I would like to thank the following Senators for their contribution: Sen. Pareno, Sen. Mwaura, Sen. Christopher Langat, Sen.(Dr.) Musuruve, Sen. Kasanga, Sen .Omogeni, Sen. Olekina, Sen. Ndwiga, Sen. Kibiru, and Sen. (Dr.) Zani. I will address their concerns. I will begin with the ones for both Sen. Olekina and Sen. Omogeni on the role of the Kenya Defence Forces. Madam Temporary Speaker, under Article 241, the role of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) on disaster management is secondary. When the Cabinet Secretary appeared before us on the Solai tragedy, she was very clear that their role is secondary. They do not want to play a lead role in disaster management. However, they have told us – I want Sen. Kibiru to hear this – that they are the only outfit in Kenya that is trained on disaster management. The National Youth Service (NYS) does not even come anywhere close to the training. Our KDF officers have been trained in Israel and other nations in Europe on disaster management. The unit in charge is based in Embakasi. They have promised that once this Bill is in place, they are prepared to train counties and decentralize. They have highly qualified personnel although they did not tell us how many they are. The KDF wants to remain at that role. To answer the queries about the Authority, this is one particular Authority that, perhaps, the Senators did not look at Clause 37. The four authorities that are established in the Department of Special Programmes and three under the Office of the President will all be collapsed into one outfit. That is the national authority. Therefore, what the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), the National Disaster Management Unit (NDMU) and the National Disaster Operations Centre (NDOC) are doing today will be done by one Authority. That is the reason this Authority is in place. Madam Temporary Speaker, secondly, their role is coordination, they are the lead agency to coordinate. In the case of Solai, the national Government was the leader. The provincial administration was the leader coordinating even the military personnel. This outfit will play that role. My dear colleagues, it is this outfit that will call the military. In the case of Solai, the military personnel were called from Lanet 12 hours later. The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) was called six or seven hours later. This agency will look at the disaster and make that assessment. To answer Sen. Ndwiga, the County Disaster Management Committee and the intention of this Bill is to make the counties the first responder. The only way to tap into the kitty that is sitting in the National Treasury is to ensure that this Authority is in place. The contingency fund that is set up in the budget is then transited into the Disaster Risk Management Fund. That is the intention. That money will not sit idle and the National Treasury where the Cabinet Secretary in charge of the Ministry of Devolution and Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), Hon. Eugene Wamalwa, walks around the country distributing iron sheets, unga and water. That is not his role. He cannot do so. He is one person and, therefore, cannot reach everybody. The intention of this Bill is to correct that. Madam Temporary Speaker, to answer Sen. Olekina, in terms of Clause 4(2), the word ‘may’ there has been used very cleverly. They did not want to say ‘shall’ and there is a reason. The Governor of Kilifi County, where there was disaster, came to us that they had set up a disaster Bill and Act in Kilifi County. However, when they called the County 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."
}