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"id": 954215,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
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"legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
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"content": "million. It cannot work; it is not developing local tourism. You should rethink this, Sen. (Dr.) Zani. You go further and say that where a body corporate is found guilty of an offence under this Act - I do not know who drafted this for you - every principal officer of that corporation is deemed to have committed an offence. It cannot work like that. You are saying that if it is a hotel, the beverages manager, the manager, waitress, front office manager and the chief chef are all guilty, and they will pay fines of Kshs500,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding--- This reminds me of what the President of Uganda, Hon. Museveni, always says; that immigration officers think that their duty is to prevent people from travelling. I would want Sen. (Dr.) Zani to rethink these provisions. There is a provision for making regulations. I want to encourage her that if these regulations are going to help tourism in the counties, they should then be subjected to debate and approval by the respective county assemblies. This is because the delegated legislation has no effect unless it is passed by respective Parliaments, either the Senate, county assemblies or the National Assembly. You should look at that as well so that it can be able to help. Otherwise, the idea is good. All the issues listed are very good and people should be able to--- Even for my colleague from Narok, Sen. Olekina, if there are tourists who have come specifically to enjoy the comfort of a manyatta, they can sleep in a manyatta and pay some dollars to the owner. However, the Bill says that if that owner then violates something, you hit them with a fine of Kshs500,000 fines. It does not add up at all. Sen. (Dr.) Zani, at some appropriate moment, I will sit and do a write up on your Bill and forward to you, so that you can be able to improve it. I want to encourage Members that this is very good. Like I stated yesterday, tourism is not about parks and beaches. It is about our culture, the way we live, where we live, our flora and fauna, mountains, valleys, hills and everything. Every single county in this country is a tourist attraction in its own right. Every region in this country is a tourist attraction in its own right. This Bill will go a long way to assist in helping counties grow. More importantly, I want to encourage Sen. (Dr.) Zani on something we have completely left out. There is a lot of money that is given to the Ministry of Tourism through appropriations-in-aid and grants from various countries. This is money that develops tourism. We should oblige the national Government that when such money comes into the country, it should be shared across counties that have expressed and developed good ideas for development of tourism. This is to ensure that the money is not kept in Nairobi under the Tourism Trust Fund and the Cabinet Secretary starts dishing it out to friends to go and build huge hotels for free. I have seen it happen. The Tourism Trust Fund money is not given as loans, it is given out as grants and gifts to individuals. This money should be spread out across counties, so that any woman in Narok who wants to start a curio business can access it and start a business. Anybody in Kitui who wants to set up a small cottage or boutique or hotel like we are here now--- If three or five Senators stayed in a private home, they would improve the economy of that individual and leave them moving to the next level in life. This is what we are fighting for. We must also wean ourselves of the ridiculous notion that a tourist The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}