Susan Wakarura Kihika

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 241 to 250 of 551.

• 11 Jul 2019 in Senate: years in prison is too long. They have already served their time. Therefore, the Committee should reduce the time to a couple of years. If they are out for a short time, they can get their certificates of good conduct so that they are able to get jobs. This way, we will integrate them into the society and make them good members of the society. view
• 10 Jul 2019 in Senate: Madam Temporary Speaker, I rise pursuant to Standing Order No.47(1) to seek a Statement from the Committee on Lands, Environment and Natural Resources on the status of the national policy on the ban on logging in the country by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. view
• 10 Jul 2019 in Senate: There is no denying that natural forests are important watersheds, habitats for wildlife, reservoir of biological diversity, carbon sequestration and regional climatic amelioration. As such, conservation, restoration and continued protection of forests will ensure sustainable provision of ecological services. view
• 10 Jul 2019 in Senate: Premised on these concerns and the lack of rainfall, a moratorium on logging was put in place in February, 2018. It was initially expected to last between three to six months, but on 24th November, 2018, the Government extended the ban on logging in public forests by another one year. The extension of the ban, as explained by the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Mr. Keriako Tobiko, was to facilitate the rehabilitation of forests through scaling up of tree planting campaigns in order to achieve 10 per cent forest cover by 2022 and pave way for a total overhaul of the ... view
• 10 Jul 2019 in Senate: According to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry statistics, to achieve the 10 per cent forest cover by 2022, a total of 1,625,036 hectares of additional forest is required for active tree growing and natural regeneration of forests. Currently, the country’s canopy forest cover stands at 2 per cent of total land area. view
• 10 Jul 2019 in Senate: Whereas the intention is, indeed, a noble one and will be of great benefit to the people of Kenya, we cannot ignore the fact that the forestry sector contributes 3.6 per cent of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 60 per cent of the national energy requirements are met from wood fuel. Since the ban, many business owners, largely sawmill owners, have had to shut down operations. The cost of construction has been rising, with timber and poles becoming scarce and thus more expensive, all of which are doing more harm than good. view
• 10 Jul 2019 in Senate: In the Statement, the Committee should explain measures that have been put in place to stem the negative socio-economic impact of the ban, especially with regards to its contribution to unemployment. The increase in youth unemployment is quickly becoming a crisis that needs to be addressed since the closure of businesses only seems to worsen the situation. In Nakuru County, specifically in Elburgon, Molo and Njoro, thousands of youth who were previously engaged as loaders, tree cutters, transporters, millers and other manual duties such as clearing milling zones have been rendered jobless. The situation is further exuberated by the National ... view
• 10 Jul 2019 in Senate: destroy the only source of livelihoods available to those areas. This is a nationwide problem that needs to be addressed as such. view
• 10 Jul 2019 in Senate: Economies in counties such as Nyeri, Nyandarua, Kiambu and Kirinyaga have also been adversely affected with hundreds of thousands of Kenyans left without any other source of income, and in some instances, debt, as they are unable to service loans. In many parts of the country, the cost of construction has significantly increased since the moratorium following the shortage of timber. Connected to the same is the fact that Kenyan saw millers are likely not to benefit from the affordable housing agenda as timber required will mainly come from other countries following the reduction in import duty. view
• 10 Jul 2019 in Senate: The Committee should provide a status report on the process of reforms with regards to the reconstitution of the KFS to address graft claims, which was one of the justifications given for the ban. Connected to the same, a status report should also be provided on the forensic audit of the Green Schools Programme (GSP) and Shamba System ordered by the Ministry to establish the real value of revenue collected vis-à-vis transmitted under the KFS to the National Treasury, valuation and sale of forest stocks and the total acreage of forest land that is still under farming and what mechanisms ... view