Musalia Mudavadi

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 701 to 710 of 1008.

• 6 Oct 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, if I start with the issues raised by Mr. Nyamweya, they are valid. In the Statement, of course, I could not cover every detail. I want to acknowledge that the issues he raised are important. Indeed, the long and short of it is that I have also indicated in this Statement that the Ministry of Water and Irrigation is going to review the state of all its initiatives regarding water harvesting and so forth, and be able to present a report on the status that we are in and what measures they are putting in place to ... view
• 6 Oct 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also want to state, in respect to the hon. Member for Lari that as it turns now, we expect that the Ministry of State for Special Programmes which is charged with the Strategic Grain Reserves--- It is the responsibility of the Ministry of State for Special Programmes to ensure that the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) will have the appropriate resources in a timely manner to be able to take the grain from the farmers and pay them promptly. The problem we have had over the years is that farmers tend to deliver maize but ... view
• 6 Oct 2010 in National Assembly: That also goes further to touch on the question raised by Mr. Wamalwa. The issue of driers is the function that is handled by the NCPB because they are the ones who normally take the grains. This point will be emphasized so that farmers do not get the frustrations that they have been getting when they are told to go back with their maize because of the moisture content and at the same time no service is provided to them. So, that aspect is key to the issue of our preparedness in this regard. view
• 6 Oct 2010 in National Assembly: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I would like to start by telling the House that I have no scientific formula or model, as a person, to be able to tell you what the weather will be like. That is why we rely on the professionals in this area, and that is the Meteorological Department, who are trained to be able to look at these issues. So, I cannot provide a scientific model in this regard. view
• 6 Oct 2010 in National Assembly: However, indeed, I have touched on some of the issues. But let me try again to re- emphasize one or two aspects of it. One, I want to state that the issue of the census as raised by the hon. Member, is indeed, a different factor and I know that numbers or population will have an input on how resources will be allocated. But I would like us to de-segregate, at this particular point in time, the issue of the drought and the issue that relates to the census because that is really a completely different aspect which I would ... view
• 6 Oct 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also want to state that on the issue of the long term solutions, one of the Ministries that is very well funded – this House did approve their budget – is the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. That Ministry has got a lot of resources that have been made available for them to undertake major irrigation schemes, construction of dams, boreholes and so forth. Indeed, in the Statement, I did emphasize that we expect them to also produce a report which they can make available to this House on how they are utilizing those resources and ... view
• 6 Oct 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also want to state that, that in a way, is one of the strategies to deal with the long term solutions, as hon. Ganya did raise, because drought is something that, from time to time, as we anticipate, we should be prepared to know that long term solutions in investing in water is the way to go, just the way the honorable Member of Parliament for Lugari, hon. Jirongo has said. It is a fact that our dependence on rain-fed agriculture has been a hindrance and we need to continuously, over a long period of time, ... view
• 6 Oct 2010 in National Assembly: There are also very many programmes under the Ministry of Agriculture which deal with promoting and encouraging drought-resistant crops. I know that for a long time, the Ministry of Agriculture has had programmes that encourage people to move away from maize and wheat as the only crop, particularly when you are dealing with cereals, to really diversify and deal with other commodities. It has to be a continuous exercise because you must also be able to make sure that the farmer is convinced that he is going to get a return from whatever enterprise he is entering into. So, this ... view
• 6 Oct 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would also like to say that is one of the positive aspects of the new Constitution and this, again, is a question of the effectiveness to which resources would be decentralized. We have to bear in mind that this House and this country has adopted a new Constitution where resource allocation is going to be very specific to various counties and in that process, we should be able to have a more structured approach to how these resources can actually reach out from the centre to the respective rural areas that most of us come from. ... view
• 6 Oct 2010 in National Assembly: Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think that would be better off handled as a separate subject so that there is a substantive communication on that particular aspect. view