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"content": "The northern region is the one that will assist Kenya to move forward. If we talk of things like large scale farming, they can only occur in a more rational manner in the northern region because of availability of huge land. When you have large scale farming, you can produce things at a cheaper price and, therefore, make Kenya a food basket. Madam Temporary Speaker, that region has a non-seasonal river which flows the entire year. Therefore, if we can leverage on the resources in that region, that is how we can develop. This point may appear off-topic, but it buttresses the whole idea that the northern region should not be discriminated against. It makes all the sense for us to put in more money there so that it gives us what we call a “leg up” as we strive to industrialize. Therefore, some positive discrimination in terms of sending more resources to that region may assist, not only the people of that region, but even those of us who come from other regions of Kenya. A good example in that philosophy has been shown by unfortunate incidents, where people have been killed when they were quarrying. All those people came from Central region, showing that, in their own way and wisdom, they had seen some resource in that region and they had gone there to exploit it. This means that when we develop the northern region, we not only develop the locals, but the entire country. Therefore, Madam Temporary Speaker, this Motion is trying to see what we can do about lifting education standards in that region. We should support it with the understanding that we are not only targeting the northern region, but we are assisting that region to become the catalyst of development for the entire country. That is why I have always been perturbed by reports that we do not have a tarmacked road that link the three main towns of that region; that is Garissa, Wajir and Mandera. Maybe when the Mover will be replying, he will say that a contract is already rolling out to ensure that those three towns are linked. If, indeed, that project is there, we need to tell the Government that it is good, that it is quite important and we need to celebrate that. The Jubilee Government needs to be congratulated and celebrated because by doing that, we are going to end the so-called “so many years of discrimination.” Madam Temporary Speaker, I make reference to the 1965 Sessional Paper No.10, which was tabled before the National Assembly either by hon. Mwai Kibaki or the late hon. Tom Mboya - it was actually hon. Tom Mboya. It argued that we when we put more resources in a certain region, development then percolate. I think that was a flawed argument because, one, economic theory appears to buttress the idea that the best way to develop people is the bottom-up approach. This means that you go directly to where the people are and then you move up. Number two, you will find that on regions where land has been divided so much, I am not so sure you can get the best results once you put more resources in those regions. I am, therefore, arguing that the current modern economic thinking supports the whole idea of putting more resources in the northern region so that, that area now becomes the launch pad for the expansion of our economy. Therefore, this idea of asking ourselves how we can uplift the northern region in terms of education is important to me, because education touches what we call “human capital.” It is the human capital that we are trying to sharpen and address. Therefore, if we were to ensure that we have more graduates and more educational institutions in the northern region, we will have a situation where that 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."
}