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{
    "id": 840534,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/840534/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 397,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orengo",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 129,
        "legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
        "slug": "james-orengo"
    },
    "content": " Point taken, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. We should not lose the fact that oil is a curse. We have no doubt that oil is a curse. This is because there are studies that have been done by some scholars in this industry and they have said that democracy has not worked in the countries where oil was discovered after the year 1960. In fact, authoritarianism has sipped in to an extent that was never imagined. They have given some examples to back up findings. If you look at oil producing countries in Africa, be they in West Africa, or Central Africa, they are not doing very well in terms of democracy. If you take a country like Venezuela, for example, which was doing very well, oil has been a curse to it. If you look at some countries in North Africa, which include Libya, oil has been a curse more than a blessing. In the Middle East, those scholars who have looked into this matter have said that what has helped them is not in the sense of building democracy, but the fact that oil has given them money to take control of their people. They give people benefits as if they are being rewarded in order to make sure that they do not have participation in the public affairs of those particular countries. We have to carry out certain very exhaustive amendments to this Bill. It cannot stand the way it is. First of all, the Constitution says that oil is part of the land. It also says that land in Kenya belongs to the people of Kenya, as a nation, and as communities. Although this Bill is borrowing from an Article in the Constitution which vests public lands to the National Land Commission (NLC), it is now saying that oil is vested in the National Government, in trust, for the people of Kenya. A statement must be made in this Bill if we want the Turkana people to believe in us when we say that oil belongs to the people of Kenya as a nation and as communities. In that case, we will be talking sense to the communities. We are creating a behemoth or a creature in this Bill. If you look at the powers given to the Cabinet Secretary (CS) in this Bill, I can tell you that we will have no responsibility in the management of operations of oil, particularly upstream. That needs to be corrected. If I had more time, I would, probably, talk about a few general issues. However, look at the powers of the CS. According to the Constitution, the CS only answers questions to Parliament, but he is not accountable to it. A CS is accountable to the President. Therefore, what the Senate Majority Leader refers to as approval of development strategies for oil operations, it is an idea that comes when the more important decisions have already been made. Clause 5(1) says- “The Cabinet Secretary shall develop and publish a national policy on petroleum operations which shall be reviewed at least once in every five years.” It then goes on to say in Clause 5(2) as follows:- 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."
}