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{
    "id": 915443,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/915443/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 400,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kibwezi West, Independent",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Patrick Musimba",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1804,
        "legal_name": "Patrick Mweu Musimba",
        "slug": "patrick-mweu-musimba"
    },
    "content": "way, we will be able to increase our investments through the savings that we are making for each and every individual so that we can grow our per capita income. We want to draw a picture of a future where no single household in Kenya will have a deficit of power. All Kenyans will be able to provide for their families in terms of meals. We want power that is seamless so that we do not say villagers should go to sleep by 6.30 p.m. or 7.00 p.m. because they can no longer see each other or because there are security issues. That is how the monumental nature of this Nuclear Energy Regulation Bill comes in. Nuclear power is at 2 US cents in terms of production. That is against our traditional renewable energy sources which are currently oscillating between 8 US cents and 12 US cents. Even if we are fighting for a 4 US cents margin, there is the total capacity of this country to generate more than 30,000 megawatts. The total of wind power, solar power and hydro power can never get to that magnitude. If we are projecting, it should be for another 20 years, when our population will be close to 90 million Kenyans. Our population in the 1960s and 1970s was about 7 million. Today, we are 45 million people. How do we address those challenges in future? How do we ensure that we do not have endemic blackouts that reduce the efficiency of doing business or ensuring that the competitiveness of Kenya continues to be on an upward trajectory? We have to turn to nuclear energy. As alluded to by previous speakers, there are all sorts of conditions to be complied with before a country can embark on nuclear energy production. They have talked about safety concerns. Safety concerns are all about how we educate ourselves. I must congratulate Sen. Ochilo Ayacko on the HANSARD for having been the first Executive Chairman of the Energy Regulatory Board (ERB) and, more so, for the effort he has made, in conjunction with the University of Nairobi (UoN), towards local capacity building through launching of nuclear science degree programmes that have since graduated to Masters level. I am confident that we will have PhD programmes directed to nuclear energy studies so that we do not depend on external expertise any more. We will develop the nuclear science area of study on our own. There is no skill set that exists in the world in which Kenyans have not excelled. We are champions in every single area. We look to a future where, as we look at the greater COMESA and Africa region, because we are talking about having a one-stop area of doing trade, Kenya will be a beacon even if it is Egypt we want to compete with. Egypt has already gone into nuclear energy. South Africa already has nuclear power. We, in the middle region of Africa, need to get there. As we develop the LAPPSET corridor, which is the land bridge we are creating between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, Kenya has to be monumental. This has to be driven by affordable and reliable electric power. Nuclear is the only source. We are calling for an appropriate location with adequate security mechanisms to be put in place. This House has to be commended because it already saw the future when we were enacting the Coast Guard Bill. One of the elements that we were seeing was how to secure the danger of having proliferation of dirty material which will be coming in. With the Coast Guard Service Bill which is now in place as an Act of Parliament, we have enough mechanism to safeguard. We have enough mechanisms to ensure our populace is educated through our The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}