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{
    "id": 822603,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/822603/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 154,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Eng.) Maina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 75,
        "legal_name": "Ephraim Mwangi Maina",
        "slug": "ephraim-maina"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I rise to second this Bill which seeks to streamline and lay grounds for provision of power in the future. The matter has been interrogated very well by our able Senate Majority Leader. Being a lawyer, he has gone further to add more to the Bill. I would like to enlighten this House on some of the issues that are being addressed in this Bill. The Bills seeks to streamline energy to be in conformity with the Government’s Big Four Agenda. For this country to be industrialized, we must have energy that is affordable and in the right places, including social programmes. If we want to have quality education, we must have energy everywhere. There are many forms of energy which are covered in the Bill. We have the hydropower that we have always relied on, which has its own challenges. This Bill enumerates ways that will develop other energy sectors, for example, geothermal, wind power, gas and nuclear power. All these forms of energy are covered in the Bill and the administration of the same is done. There is a commission that is envisaged to run the issues of energy in the country, so that everything is synchronized. Madam Temporary Speaker, this afternoon, a major issue about the cost of energy, which is dear to all of us, came up. Therefore, this Bill gives a bit of flexibility to the rigid system, which mandated Kenya Power to be the only provider of power. It relaxes the system so that Kenyans can venture into and invest in this field. Madam Temporary Speaker, I appeal to this House that whatever this Bill envisages can only be achieved in the right local political climate. In this regard, Kenya will accrue benefits in a cheaper way if the politics is right. That way, we will reduce the cost of projects by foreign investors who bring money to our country. For example, it has taken two years to connect power from Suswa to the Coast, just because of some local politics in Isinya. I wish my brother, Sen. Olekina, was here. These are the kind of things that contribute to more costs. Madam Temporary Speaker, there is no doubt that Kenyans are looking forward to having affordable power. However, this will only happen if we have the right political climate and we have local investors who are not looking for big investments. I hope that when this Bill is passed and becomes an Act, there will be modalities to unlock local resources. For example, there is no reason pension funds cannot be invested in energy, rather than us borrowing money, which is expensive. 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."
}