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{
    "id": 838309,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/838309/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 531,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Now that this proposal is being made, in their request and the Bill that they will be sending to this House, let them assure us that checks and balances are properly provided for. When a county government enters into partnership with the Kenya Red Cross, it should be through an open process, where citizens of that particular county get value for money and the services that are due and deserved of them. On many occasions, I have seen various counties that have excelled in the area of disaster response in particular traits. They need the support from other county governments, but the framework does not exist. Being the House that makes laws for our county governments, it is upon us to give them the framework that they need. I know, for example, the renowned divers from Bomet County, who continue to serve the entire South Rift region every time there is a disaster that requires that kind of service. Whenever there have been incidents where people have drowned in my county, the divers have been called upon to respond. Towards the end of last year, when one of our colleagues had a mishap and members of staff from our office had an accident in Lake Nakuru, I saw them being called upon to respond. They were driven all the way from Bomet County. Within two or three days of being at the scene, they retrieved one of the bodies that were missing at that time. My point is that when we have this expertise, we are duty-bound as an institution of the Senate to provide the necessary framework, to ensure that people who excel in such important activities get the necessary support. What bothers me is that these young men are not employees of county governments. Most of them are just young people who love diving and, occasionally, when there is a disaster of this kind, they are called upon to respond. The fact is that many of our young people are trained and have patriotic traits. When disaster strikes, they first serve and then find out whether or not they will be paid. In most cases, they end up responding, but never get paid. For us to encourage having many such young people who can respond even along our highways during accidents or such issues, it is important that we provide the necessary framework. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we are aware of the kind of troubles that countries like Indonesia are faced with. When I was watching the unfortunate incident of the earthquake, what struck my mind is what would happen to countries like Kenya, for example, were we to face an occurrence of that nature or one that is even half of the magnitude of what Indonesia faced. How prepared are we if we continue to struggle even with six or seven storey buildings that collapse? How would we respond in case of a landslide or earthquake of the nature that is being faced by countries like Indonesia? As leaders, it is important to begin to question and know that accidents happen. The fact that this country has never faced an earthquake is not enough confirmation that it may never happen in the future, given all the seismic shifts that we are observing across the Rift Valley. You remember what happened to the Narok-Nairobi Highway at the beginning of this year. It is important that we begin to think of matters to do with disaster preparedness and provide the kind of framework that is being proposed by the Movers of this Motion. I laud them for this noble initiative and thought; that we are just speaking about things that are important to us. More importantly, as Sen. Khaniri shared with us, they are mid-way through the preparation of a Bill to provide the framework for this to be The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}