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{
    "id": 814896,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/814896/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 41,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "because there are middlemen, brokers, ‘tenderpreneurs’ and the white collar criminals in Kenya, who have come around to mistreat the small farmer. How will we persuade this country that we should do irrigation for purposes of agriculture? Sometimes, I think that we are doing this for the sake of it; just to make sure that Wanjiku, Wambui and Otieno sleep well at night and we provide food. Meanwhile, we ship maize from Uganda and Mexico. What a tragedy. Mr. Speaker, Sir, these things must be said because the small countries that have prospered like Israel and Egypt, which have deserts, have properly managed the little water they have. This Senate must stand up to be counted. We must exorcise the ghost of the Bill that we defeated in the Senate by interrogating this Bill. There is no need to rush it. I know that the Mover wanted this Bill done quickly, but we do not need rush it. Why are we rushing it? Let us interrogate and debate it, but ask questions. Will it be business as usual when we pass this Authority and appoint our friends or people who lost elections - you know the usual - for academic purposes? This country has suffered. Who will save Kenya from this bad behaviour and vices? Food prices will go up so that they can get revenue. The National Treasury will raise duty and food prices inevitably, yet we had a lot of water. We have not bothered to handle the recent sugar issue. A gazette notice was issued, which brought in sugar and milk powder to deal with famine. You do not even need to persuade me that, that was a joke. Why are we doing irrigation if we cannot provide simple things like food? Mr. Speaker, Sir, I support this framework, but it must count for something. We cannot just be making noise and spending our time. Yesterday, somebody said that the Committee that was interrogating the Cabinet Secretary wasted public resources. Did we waste public resources by asking about money, the Kshs1.5 billion that was sent to people’s pockets? Somebody thinks that the Kshs5,000 sitting allowance is a waste of funds. That is what you call a country that has leaders who think like a pinhole camera; everything appears upside down. That is what we call people who do not understand what their role is and we must tell them. That is why we must say it while discussing this matter. The Senate did not waste time by interrogating the Cabinet Secretary to ask about money that was misappropriated by Kenyans, who should be in jail today and not walking around in big cars. The people who misappropriated money for irrigation should also be in jail; the time has come. Sen. Haji, as you deal with your peace caravan as a result of the handshake, let us not have the handshake for the sake of it. Let us change this country for the future. You are a respected man. You can say: “Jail all these people.” I am sure if you jail all of them nothing will happen; the rest of the country will move on. People will not steal from the poor and use these authorities for purposes of causing food insecurity. Instead of having food security, we have food insecurity. Instead of having an authority like the one we were interrogating, the National Construction Authority (NCA), we have the ‘National Ongoing Construction Authority. ’ People do not understand what they are supposed to do. A time will come when public officers should be put to account. When I move the Report on the Solai Dam, it will be a comedy and tragedy of public officers who waited for a disaster to happen. They caused death by not doing their job; simple. 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."
}