Eng. Nicholas Gumbo

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 731 to 740 of 3504.

• 15 Mar 2016 in National Assembly: Hon. Temporary Deputy Chairman, this amendment is good. I have seen a tendency in the laws that we have been making lately of trying to give CSs too many powers when, in effect, it is not in keeping with the spirit of the new Constitution. By having “prescribing the procedures for the authorization of the exploitation of their traditional knowledge” and deleting “which shall provide for such matters as the Cabinet Secretary may prescribe”, we are making the process more consultative. I, therefore, support. view
• 8 Mar 2016 in National Assembly: Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to also contribute to this Bill. The sad story of Africa has always been the paradox that in more cases than one, we seem to be selling our wealth to buy poverty. Africa is one of the places on earth which is very well endowed with natural resources. But those natural resources have been exploited by people who, in truth, do not have the interest of Africans at heart. I think it is important that we are bringing a law which will classify the natural resources whose transaction is ... view
• 8 Mar 2016 in National Assembly: Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute. This is a very important Bill. Although I appreciate the work which is being done by the Departmental Committee on Energy, Communication and Information, the debate on this Bill should have been preceded by a comprehensive report by the Committee. Many people will not find time to go through a Bill with over 252 clauses and five comprehensive Schedules. Is the Report by the Committee available? view
• 8 Mar 2016 in National Assembly: Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I apologise. I have not seen it. This is an important and timely Bill. I encourage all Members to try as much as possible to go through the Bill in a very careful way. There is a measure called “per capita energy”. It simply measures the amount of energy that is available to every citizen. Our per capita energy in Kenya is still very low. In terms of numbers, it comes below 0.05 kilowatts for every Kenyan. Unfortunately, per capita energy is a direct measure of the development of a nation. In other words, if you ... view
• 8 Mar 2016 in National Assembly: have more access to energy will necessarily be more developed. That means if you go, for example, to Canada, the United States of America (USA) and South Africa, the amount of energy that is available to every citizen is more than what is available to the people of Kenya. This is quite paradoxical. Our country is tropical. Kenya is the only country that sits equidistantly in both the north and southern hemispheres, covering a whopping 583,000 square kilometres. view
• 8 Mar 2016 in National Assembly: If you look at Kenya’s land mass on paper, our energy sources from solar alone ought to be much more. It is probably even enough to feed the whole of Africa. If you were to consider that land mass on a given day when the sun is up and rising, every square kilometre of the surface of Kenya potentially can give you 1 kilowatt of power. That is over 100,000 gigawatts of power, which is humongous. It is almost like a nuclear type of energy. Then we have to ask why there is disconnect considering that our total production currently ... view
• 8 Mar 2016 in National Assembly: This calls for urgent measures. Our development aspirations will come to nothing if we cannot provide our citizens with adequate, efficient, affordable and reliable energy. Last year, I had a discussion with the Principal Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, my good friend, Eng. Njoroge. There was this aspiration to provide 5,000 megatts of power in 40 months. I argued with him. I told him that if he achieved that, then in my own small way, I would give him a present. It was not achievable because development is in more ways than one. It is like a symphony in the ... view
• 8 Mar 2016 in National Assembly: It cannot be possible to produce 5,000 megawatts in 40 months when in over 50 years we have just been able to produce slightly over 1,500 megawatts. We must focus on the fact that there is a lot of potential in our country. I have just mentioned solar energy. Our solar potential is enough to feed the whole of Africa with electrical energy. Before you convert the potential into a usable resource, then there are a lot of things that you have to do in between. This is a good Bill in so far as providing a blue print for ... view
• 8 Mar 2016 in National Assembly: I notice that Clause 7 obligates the Government to provide energy services to all persons in Kenya. This is very good. In the three years that the Jubilee Government has been in power, they have done a commendable job. Almost 70 per cent of our schools, if not more; have electrical power, but that is one bit of the question solved. You will provide power, but of what use is that power if it is not reliable and affordable? view
• 8 Mar 2016 in National Assembly: I have just come from Mombasa where I met the Managing Director of Kenya Power Company. I refused to shake his hands because when I go home every weekend, whether it is during the day or the night, the moment it drizzles, my power has to go off. I have called him so The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor. view