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{
    "id": 938045,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/938045/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 193,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mwea, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Josphat Kabinga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13441,
        "legal_name": "Josphat Kabinga Wachira",
        "slug": "josphat-kabinga-wachira-2"
    },
    "content": "almost all counties in this country and I have seen by myself the need and underdevelopment out there. However, even as we do so, it is also good for Members in this Parliament to also live to the realities that even as we talk about counties that seem to have developed, we also have areas within those counties that have historical marginalisation. Historical marginalisation in some of these counties is a reality. I speak to my own constituency of Mwea. In the precolonial time, Mwea did not have the population that it has now. In fact, Mwea was a grazing area for people who lived in the uplands. The colonial administration then made sure that there was no development that was to take place in Mwea because it was for animals and not for people. Over time, the colonialists decided to settle the Mau Mau people who did not have areas to settle in the areas they came from. Therefore, this particular constituency has grown without the infrastructure that has been enjoyed by other parts of the region. As I speak about this, there are indicators that can confirm this. It is the first time that this particular constituency now has what I would call a mean tarmac road other than other roads that are targeted in other parts of the region. It is the first time. This indicates the fact that there has been some ignorance. This area has been ignored for some time. Therefore, I urge my brothers who come from other parts of the country who are in the category of marginalised areas to also acknowledge and know that there are some areas that may not be out rightly be seen to have been marginalised but they are actually historically marginalised. If you look at schools in my area, you will see some of them are in a pathetic state. I have heard what Members talked about here. I have an area called South Gariama. If you go there today and see the kind of classes that our children school in, you will be surprised that we are talking about a region that is historically known to have developed. Let me quote the definition that is given for marginalisation: “Marginalised community means a community that, because of its relatively small population or for any other reason, has been unable to fully participate in the integrated social and economic life of Kenya as a whole.” I am on those particular words “for any other reason”. I believe there are many other constituencies in this country that are suffering the same way as my constituency. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, you just mentioned your area too. We have areas that are populated and because they are so populated, they are not enjoying resources like other constituencies. My constituency, in the last census that was undertaken, we were counted to be 238,000. I know there are issues which people are talking about. My constituency is 40 per cent of my county. My constituency is the least developed in my county. If we are to look at this marginalisation and we really want the whole population in this country to equitably develop by the targeted period, then we must go beyond what we are looking at and ensure that we also include some of these areas in this Fund. I am aware that some of these areas that we are looking at are benefiting from devolution funds in a big way. They are areas where donors are focusing in a big way. They are areas that benefit from hardship allowance. Therefore, if we are talking about equitable development, we must look at the sum total of resources that are getting into particular areas and then ask ourselves year by year how much we need to put in there so that we can bring up these areas to the level that we want. As we do so, it is important that we also do not forget areas that are generating that resource. It is important to know as a country that if we forget to also pump in some resources to some of those areas that generate resources, what we are going to see 20 years to come is that we have uplifted areas but we have remained stagnant in generating resources for 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."
}