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{
    "id": 822586,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/822586/?format=api",
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    "content": "devolved government and its draft policy that was provided, is still guiding this country on implementation of matters of devolution. Even where we have made amendments, the guiding principle in that document is still very important. Therefore, even as we have these other plans; the County Energy Plan and the Integrated Energy Plan, it is important that it takes into consideration the policy. This will bring to an end the roadside declarations or situations where a Cabinet Secretary comes into office and disregards positions that have already been put in place. It will also enable us to track the performance of a Cabinet Secretary and a Ministry, particularly, in a very important area such as energy. The complaints that people of Kenya have – I did not want to make that contribution earlier on, when Sen. Khaniri talked about it because I knew I was going to have this opportunity to talk on this issue under this Bill – about the tariffs, billing, energy generation, the cost of energy in this country and cartels capture on the energy sector are emanating from the absence of clear policy positions that can be tracked by the people of Kenya. They are also due to the absence of guiding principles and institutions that can be properly held accountable in so far as regulation of energy is concerned. Madam Temporary Speaker, this Bill creates an obligation on the part of the Government to facilitate provision of affordable energy service to all persons in Kenya under Section 7 of the Act. Therefore, it is the duty of the national or county governments to ensure that supply of energy is received everywhere and that the principle of fairness applies. This is enforceable because it is a legal duty on the part of Government to ensure that energy is all over the country. We should not have situations where if the President is elected by the majority of the votes from a given area, the Cabinet Secretary or the Chairman of the Committee comes from a given area or the railway passes through Makueni County and does not pass through Elgeyo Marakwet County, that those particular areas or counties will benefit because of those facts, but not the others. The reason why we are having urban areas in the country now and what we call high potential areas, as was enunciated by the late Hon. Tom Mboya in the Sessional Paper No.10, was because high potential areas were just areas around the railway line. There is no magic why there is greater development around the railway in terms of infrastructure and many other things. However, now, everywhere in Kenya is a high potential area. The other day I was in California. Let me just digress a little bit. I was surprised on how, for example, Los Angeles is an extremely developed city, but it is a desert. If they are lucky to have rain, it can only happen twice or thrice in a year. Look how developed Beverly Hills, Hollywood and all those other areas we watch in our movies since 1800s are. Every day we look at movie stars and want to see where they live and where their houses are. They live in a desert. Those areas would have been called, in this country, low potential areas. There is no difference between Wajir and other parts of the country. In fact, it rains several times in Wajir County. There is even no part of this country that it does not rain. That part is just like some desert in Sudan or Egypt, but extremely developed because there is nothing like low potential. It is about applying knowledge, purpose and energy. 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."
}