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{
    "id": 981062,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/981062/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 315,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13219,
        "legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
        "slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
    },
    "content": "that if you eat fish, you may not have a risk of suffering from high blood pressure. For some of us who schooled with Luos, we were told that if you get fish, go for the head. This is because that way your Intelligence Quotient (IQ) would likely be higher than that of others from other communities. Fish is a very important source of some nutrients in this country. However, sadly, we have been reading in the newspapers in the past few days that there is a serious threat of contaminating Lake Victoria, and, therefore, supplying us with fish that may carry some very bad elements, including mercury. Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, that is not a very good story. I hope that the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), which should ensure that we have a clean environment and that our waters remain free from contamination, will step in. That is why NEMA was created. I read something on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) yesterday; that there is a businessman somewhere in Europe who is pumping in USD10 million to protect some river in Europe. Therefore, I think that this is something that NEMA should take very seriously. Mr. Deputy Speaker Sir, as you know, there are some areas in Luo Nyanza where they count the number of professors in a square kilometer. This is unlike some regions, where you find one in a location. More importantly, I really do not know why the framers of this Bill wanted to reduce the work of Parliament to the level of vetting chairpersons. There are so many boards. We see gazette notices where the President appoints so many chairpersons of parastatals, some which are even more resourced financially than this one dealing with fish. I do not think that they are subjected to parliamentary vetting. Even if we were to talk about non-discrimination and having uniformity in the way we pick the people who are to head these bodies, I do not think there is a justification why we should put a higher standard for the process of appointing the chairpersons of fisheries. To bring uniformity and ensure the process is fair to everybody, let the President be the final appointing authority. Secondly, the moment you have put in place a board of integrity that consists of men and women who went to school, there is no need of again making reference to the CS to have the final say on who should be the CEO of a body. What we need to do is to build more faith and trust in our boards of management, because they are the ones who will deal with their CEO on a day to day basis. They should have a final say. It is just fair that the person who should be entrusted with the running of an organization should enjoy the full confidence and faith of the board. Also, we do not need to clog Parliament. In some countries like the United States of America (USA), when one is being subjected to vetting by the Senate or the Congress, it is a serious appointment. If we reduce vetting to be for every CEO, I think we will clog the work of Parliament, and in the process, hurt the seamless functions of these bodies. It is unbelievable that it has taken this long for this body to have a CEO in place. Therefore, to make the running of the business of our bodies – and not just this one, but many of our parastatals – let the board of management have the final say. Otherwise, the amendments are straightforward, and I support them. The only amendment that I am not in full support of is the proposal that the term should be increased from a renewable term of three years to a renewable term four years."
}