Hon. Members, I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the support that you accorded me during the demise of my late mother, Rebecca Chebet Laboso. I want to thank the Speaker, first of all, for breaking tradition and making a formal announcement here in Parliament and the subsequent support that all of you accorded me during the preparation and even the final laying of my mother in Sotik. I want to say this on behalf of the Laboso Family, friends and relatives and anybody who was concerned with my family. Thank you.

On a point of order, hon. Deputy Speaker. Is there quorum?

Can the quorum bell be rung so that we can decide whether we can start our Session or not.

Hon. Members, we now have quorum so we may now continue.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, thank you. I beg to give notice of the following Motion:-

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Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion:- THAT, aware that the heavy rain experienced across the country has caused flooding in many areas such as Tana River; concerned that the Tana and Athi River Development Authority (TARDA) and the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) have been draining water from their dams to River Tana; deeply concerned that people living downstream have been displaced, property destroyed and loss of livelihood following the artificial flooding occasioned by these two government agencies; this House resolves that TARDA and KenGen to immediately stop draining water from their dams to River Tana, come up with a mechanism to control the flooding and consider compensating the people who have been affected.

Hon. James Wandayi.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I am James Opiyo Wandayi, Member of Parliament for Ugunja. I beg to give notice of the following Motion:-

THAT, aware that the Goldenberg saga almost brought the country’s economy to its knees through false compensation claims on fictitious export of gold and diamonds; noting that the taxpayers lost about Kshs5.8 billion that is documented so far; further aware that a judicial commission of inquiry set up to probe the matter established impropriety on the part of Goldenberg company and its architects; noting that the report of the judicial commission of inquiry has not been acted upon conclusively to date; further aware that the Kenya public continues to bear the burden of old and emerging claims arising from the Goldenberg and related schemes; this House urges the Government to put in place measures to ensure that no further irregular payments are effected in regard to such schemes to avoid further loss of public funds.

Thank you.

I see no further requests. Order, hon. David Bowen! Do you have a notice of Motion?

Yes, hon. Deputy Speaker.

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Which has already been skipped?

Yes, hon. Deputy Speaker.

Please, let us learn to use the technology. I need to see your name here so that I can call upon you. Okay, go ahead. Just press the button.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion:-

THAT, aware that Kenya as East Africa’s largest economy remains a minor electricity supplier with a low penetration of about 15 per cent; concerned that Kenya Power as a strategic national agency appears to be grossly inefficient in its operations, still having 85 per cent of the population unconnected and facing a fast growing population of 3 per cent annually; also noting that power outages and surges have become the norm especially on the onset of long rains sometimes causing electrical faults that result in fires and loss of property which is never compensated by Kenya Power; and further concerned that Kenya Power has portrayed a lackluster approach in handling the customer complaints which leaves the customers disadvantaged due to lack of alternatives in electricity provision; this House urges the Government to liberalise power distribution thereby breaking the monopoly of Kenya Power in order to encourage competition, improve efficiency and reduce the cost of power. That Kenya Power to offer compensation to those who have encountered fires and loss of property due to power outages and surges. Thank you, hon. Deputy Speaker.

Thank you. The chairmen and chairladies of committees should note that we do not have Ministers to respond to Motions in the House. So, you are the people who will be responding to these Motions. So, whenever a Motion comes up that is related to your docket, be aware that you will be the one responding to that Motion. Next Order.

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Hon. Waluke, I thought we were concluding this Motion if I remember correctly. Were we not in the process of concluding?

Yes, hon. Deputy Speaker.

I think hon. Mbadi had a balance of four minutes.

Proceed, hon. Mbadi.

Thank you, hon. Deputy Speaker. I think four minutes will be enough for me. Just like I was saying yesterday, I rose to support this Motion and my main reason for supporting the Motion was based on the fact that the Constitution spells out the functions of each level of Government – county government and national Government. The agriculture function is actually a function of the county government. I remember that many of us had reservations about this Motion as to whether county governments would be inheriting inefficiency but I think the best thing to do is to have a structured way of transferring the agro-based parastatals to counties. We need to come up with a policy issue which has to be developed at the national level on how to manage and restructure for efficiency. However, this is just a Motion and since the Bill will be coming up, I would urge my colleagues to indulge the Mover of this Motion and support it with a view to looking at it in a wider perspective when we finally get to develop a Bill to actualize it. Hon. Deputy Speaker, as I conclude, I just wanted to make some remarks which hon. Members have talked about and which is public debate; the issue of the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF). I have heard many people and even the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) has even written to the Budget Committee of Parliament trying to allege that this Act is unconstitutional and one of the reasons they give is that the role of Parliament is supposed to be legislation and oversight. I do not know why we are forgetting that there is the additional role of Parliament, that is representation. They are deliberately leaving out that role and just restricting it to legislation and oversight. If you go to the dictionary, the word “representation” in simple terms means acting on behalf of someone and if you are acting on behalf of your constituents who elected you then it means you have to participate in development. You have to participate in asking and knowing the priorities that are supposed to be implemented and, therefore, you cannot divorcé a Member of Parliament from development activities. It is just impractical and it is even against the spirit of the Constitution. I actually participated very actively in coming up with Chapter 12 of the Constitution and even more actively in coming up with the Public Finance Management Act and I know there is absolutely nothing unconstitutional to set up a fund. The Constitution allows Parliament to set up any fund any time. Hon. Deputy Speaker, in conclusion, let it be known that CDF is not only implementing functions meant for county governments. Take the case of education and you will find that county governments are only given the role of pre-primary education. That is basically nursery and pre-unit. If you are developing a primary school in your constituency it is not the function of the county government. If it is a secondary school, it is not the function of a county government. Where will we get money to put up secondary

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Your time is up, hon. Mbadi. Now, I thought we were at the point where we had called the Mover to respond on this Motion so that we can move to the next Motion and I think you donated your minutes. Who was the Mover of this Motion? Hon. Waluke was the Mover of this Motion.

Thank you, hon. Deputy Speaker. I wish to take this opportunity to thank all the Members who have had a chance to contribute to this important Motion. I also thank those who did not get time to contribute. Not all of us could have contributed to this Motion because of the time limit. I want to urge this House that through this Motion, we are not trying to kill parastatals, but we want to put them under the management of the county governments where we all belong. This country has no space for impunity and the days when Motions were passed by this House and were never implemented by the Government are gone. Under Vision 2030, we would like to see all the counties in our country at 60 per cent self reliant economically. They should not rely much on the Government.

Hon. Waluke, I know you are a new Member, but I hope you are aware of the Standing Order concerning reading of notes when you are contributing. You can refer to them.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I referred to the notes when holding the paper. This House has no space for impunity. Days when Motions were passed in this House and never implemented are gone. I expect nothing short of implementation of this Motion in totality by the Government. For those who did not understand the Motion, we are not trying to uproot, for instance, tea. Some Members were talking of tea being uprooted. I did not propose to uproot the tea plants. They will remain there, but I propose that we take the resources to the counties. Some Members thought that if we moved the resources to the counties, other counties will feel bad and that is why they are opposing the Motion. I never meant that we should uproot the forests. I beg to move.

On a point of order, hon. Deputy Speaker.

Hon. Mbadi, if you are not satisfied with the Speaker, then you know the rules. You stand up and we see if we you can get the requisite number!

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Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion:- THAT, aware that over 600 pieces of ivory worth Kshs100 million were intercepted at the Port of Mombasa in March, 2013, headed for Indonesia; concerned that more than 1000 elephants have died in the last 3 years; aware that the Government declared poaching in the country a disaster; noting that a pound of ivory can now fetch more than 1,000 dollars in the black market, and as result tens of thousands of elephants are slaughtered across Africa; also aware that the Far East, and China in particular is a market hub for poached ivory; further concerned that over 211 elephants were poached in 2011 alone, with 384 elephants poached in 2012, and another 74 elephants lost since the beginning of 2013; deeply concerned with the negative impact this will have on the tourism industry in particular and the entire economy in general; this House urges the Government to tighten the measures in place for curbing poaching by increasing the number of game rangers deployed to the game parks and by coming up with more punitive measures to deter poaching.

In 1973, Kenya had 167,000 elephants. In 1989, it was reduced by poachers to 6,000. During the same period, our rhino population in this country was 20,000. It was reduced to less than 3,000 rhinos during the same period. Through Government measures and commitment from the international community, this trend was reversed. Today, this country has 38,000 elephants, the fourth largest population in the world. Also, it has about 1,025 rhinos, which is the third largest population on earth. This population of the elephants and rhinos needs to be protected as our national heritage as well as a major driver of our economic pillar for the tourism sector if we are to realize our Vision 2030. The demand for ivory and rhino horns is currently very high in South East Asian countries, where particularly in China, ivory horn is very high on demand while in Vietnam, the rhino horn is very much in demand. The current poaching situation in Kenya is very pathetic. In 2007, we lost 47 elephants, in 2011; 211 elephants; in 2012, 384 elephants and in the last four months of this year, we have lost 74 elephants. In the last three years we have lost a total of 1000 elephants in this country. The criminals involved in poaching are highly organized, sophisticated and of international nature.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, the black market for ivory trade is conducted through cyber space which is hard for the police. According to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), there are 17,847 elephant products posted on 13 websites in china alone. You can imagine how rampant it can be in other parts of the world. There are many drivers for poaching in this country. The first is the rising prices of ivory and rhino horns due to high demand both locally and internationally. In addition, a band of ivory can now fetch over USÂŁ1000 in China. There is also a glowing affluence, an economic growth in East and South Asia, where these products are in high demand. In our own country, there is a growing population of Chinese and people of Far East decent where the demand is high locally. The other major driver is the position of Southern African Development Community (SADC) to down list elephants from Appendix 1 to Appendix II with the aim

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Yes, hon. Torboso.

Thank you, hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to second the Motion.

Article 42 of our Constitution is very clear. Under the Bill of Rights, every citizen of this country is entitled to a clean and healthy environment. This includes the right to have the environment protected for the benefit of the present and future generations through legislative and other regulatory measures, particularly the laws contemplated under Article 69. Again, under Article 69, it is very clear that one of the obligations of the Government, with regard to the environment, is protection and enhancement of intellectual property; protection and enhancement of indigenous knowledge of biodiversity and genetic resources of communities; and protection of genetic resources and the biological diversity of this country.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, the issue being raised by hon. Chachu Ganya is of great magnitude and value to the economy of this country. It is true that for many years, Kenyans have basically lived on the benefits of our natural resources, particularly wildlife. In Africa, other than the Republic of South Africa, Kenya is the only country that boasts of well protected wildlife sanctuaries, be they national parks or game reserves or private conservancies. We must admit that in the recent past, this great natural resource came under attack being fuelled by a great international conspiracy that involves trading in wildlife trophies, particularly those targeting two of our Big Five animals, namely, elephants and rhinos.

What is more worrying is the fact that what this country intends to achieve under Vision 2030, particularly the economic goals of this policy, is pegged so much on tourism. The President talked about attracting three million tourists by 2017. I am afraid that it will be impossible for us to achieve these kinds of targets if the very bases of our tourism sector continue to face such serious attacks. We must realise that the tourism sector in this country is basically nature-based. Other than wildlife, the other great attraction that tourists come to see in Kenya is our sandy beaches. However, appreciating how much our sandy coastline has been mismanaged over the last few years, wildlife still remains the most important tourism attraction product in Kenya. Therefore, any danger posed to our tourism assets must be dealt with decisively. When we talk of our tourism assets, we have in mind the Big Five animals, namely, elephants, rhinos, lions, buffalos and leopards. Two of our Big Five wild animals, namely, elephants and rhinos; having come under this kind of attack from poaching fuelled by a great demand for wildlife trophies in the South-East Asian markets, it behoves the Government to come up with various strict legislations to protect this important biodiversity resource.

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Ahsante Mheshimiwa Naibu wa Spika. Nachukuwa fursa hii kumshukuru Mwenyezi Mungu na kukushukuru wewe kwa kunipa nafasi hii kujadili mswada huu nyeti. Wanyama, utalii na uchumi lazima viambatane. Ndiposa nchi inawiri ama uchumi wa taifa hili unawiri na Wakenya wafaidike sharti tuwe na sera na mikakati ya kuhifadhi wanyama. Kupoteza ndovu 1,000 katika mwaka mmoja ni hasara kwa taifa letu na vizazi vijavyo. Ikiwa nchi inataka itambulike sharti itunge sheria na sera za kuhakikisha kwamba wanyama hawa hawaangamizwi. Hii ndiyo sababu nimesimama kuunga mkono hii hoja. Huduma ya Wanyama wa Pori (KWS) inayo baraza ambalo limekuwa baraza la kisiasa. Badala ya kubuni sera za maana, kila anapochaguliwa mkurugenzi wa kusimamia huduma hiyo wao hutafuta namna ya kumchimba ili aondolewe ili ufisadi na uuaji wanyama uendelee. Jiulize, ni nani msomi mwenye kiwango chake Dr. Kipng’etich? Ni nini kimechangia kuondolewa kwake? Lazima tuangaze huduma hii tujue inafanya kazi gani. Tusipofanya hivyo wanyama wetu watauliwa kila mara na nchi yetu itapoteza utalii kwa wingi. Ni lazima tuongeze idadi ya askari. Sharti askari wale wapewe silaha na zana za kisasa za kupambana na majangili wanaomaliza wanyama wetu. Lazima askari hao wafunzwe nidhamu vile vile. Ninakotoka kuna Kora National Park. Wapo askari ambao hushika wananchi kiholela kwa sababu moja tu. Badala ya kuwapeleka watu walioshikwa mahakamani Garissa ama Hola ama Mwingi, wao huwazungusha hadi Meru ili wananchi hao wasiitishe msaada. Hii ina maana kuwa ndiyo tuongeze askari, silaha, zana za kisasa na kuwapa nidhamu inawabidi wao askari waache harakati za kisiasa na waende kulinda wanyama. Mheshimiwa Naibu wa Spika, Kipengele 69(e) kinazungumzia kumhusisha mwananchi katika harakati kama hizi. Ikiwa hatutawahusisha wananchi ili kwamba wao wamiliki mbuga hizi kama mali yao ni vigumu kwetu sisi kufaulu katika vita vilivyo mbele yetu. Ingawa mimi ninataka kuunga hoja hii mkono nitatofautiana kidogo na aliyeileta hasa mahali pale pa adhabu. Yeye anapendekeza kwamba kusiwe na bond. Ikiwa katika sheria yetu anayeshukiwa kuwa mwuuaji hupewa bond je, kwa nini tusiangalie haki zao pia? Wapate hukumu kali lakini tusiwanyime bond kwa sababu hiyo ni haki msingi. Hatustahili kuwanyima fursa hiyo. Tuangazie mizozo baina ya wananchi na wanyama. Tutafute suluhisho. Ningependa kutambua jamii ya wafugaji. Asilimia 80 ya mbuga zetu zinapatikana katika maeneo ya wafugaji. Sharti watakaokuja na sera na sheria watambue wafugaji kama sehemu muhimu katika shughuli ya kuhifadhi wanyama. Naunga mkono.

Thank you, hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Motion first on the basis that it is a constitutional obligation under Article 69 of the Constitution. Secondly, poaching poses a threat to our biodiversity and also our ecological integrity. Tourism is one of the greatest employment opportunities that Kenyans have. A threat to our wildlife would consequently affect the amount of employment that is as a result of tourism. That will be catastrophic especially in a country that is already faced with very high unemployment levels.

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Hon. Deputy Speaker, I rise to support this Motion. My constituency borders Aberdares National Park. We are experiencing various problems. The “big cats”, especially the leopards, are being killed because of their fur. My position is that the whole insecurity situation is worrying. Apparently, insecurity is not only visited on human beings. Our animals are also victims of the insecurity that is prevalent in this country. So, when our security forces are meeting, perhaps, they need to think

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Hon. Deputy Speaker, I rise to support this Motion. I wish to thank hon. Ganya for bringing this Motion before this House. I come from a county where tourism is a major source of revenue. The elephants are among the “big five” and whenever we are branding Kenya in terms of tourism promotions, we use the elephant, the rhino and the leopard as our marketing animals. Poaching will make elephants extinct in this nation. As it has been said by one hon. Member, the elephant takes very many years to mature. So, I urge this House to support this Motion so that this nation and the generations to come will benefit because of our wildlife. I also concur that we should come up with other preventive measures. We need to increase game rangers and improve their surveillance. We should also look for a way to equip the respective counties so that tracking equipment can be used as an option to end that menace. With those few remarks, I beg to support.

Thank you hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Motion. In the same light, I want to join my colleagues in congratulating hon. Chachu Ganya for bringing this very timely Motion. In the same light, I want to laud hon. Chachu Ganya for the great conservation work that he does through his organization – the Pastoralist Integrated Support Programme in Marsabit. I

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Mhe. Naibu Spika, ningetaka kuongea kwa Kiswahili. Ningetaka kuchangia Hoja hii ambayo imeletwa na Mhe. Ganya. Niko na maoni tofauti kuhusu wawidaji haramu. Katika marekebisho ambayo tunahitaji kuangalia, wawidaji haramu wakipatikana wanafaa kuhukumiwa kifo. Hiyo ni kwa sababu wanafanya nchi yetu isiwe na uwezo na fedha ambazo zinahitajika kusaidia uchumi. Kama si kifo, basi wafungwe maisha gerezani. Kule China, ukipatikana ukijihusisha katika mambo ya madawa ya kulevya, kawaida ni lazima ufe. Kwa uwezo na hekima ya Bunge hili, hii ni sehemu moja ya viegezo vya uchumi wetu. Tunafaa kuhakikisha kwamba jamii ambazo zinaishi na wanyama wa pori zinapewa ridhaa fulani ambayo itawasaidia kama vile mhe. Amina amesema. Hao ndio waliinzi katika mbuga zetu. Mwisho, ningependa kuangazia swala moja. Katika nchi hii, kwa njia moja ama nyingine, tunaabudu watu ambao wamepata fedha kwa njia isiyo halali. Wengi wao ni wawidaji haramu. Pia, wengi wa wawidaji hao wanatumiwa na baadhi ya watu ambao wako na fedha za kutosha. Wengine wako Serikalini na wengine wamepata njia ya kuingia katika mashirika makubwa. Wale wanaopigwa risasi kule msituni huwa wanatumiwa tu. Kama si adhabu ya kifo, wafungwe maisha gerezani. Hivyo ndivyo tutakavyosaidia nchi yetu na kisasi kijacho.

Hon. Deputy Speaker, I rise to support this Motion about the poaching of elephants and the measures that need to be taken. If you look at the history of poaching, there has been an increase in the number of elephants that have been killed of late. There is a report showing that between December and January this year, at the Tsavo National Park, we have lost about 21 elephants purely because of poaching. The population of elephants in Kenya reduced from 275,000 in the 70s to 20,000 in 1989. The fact is that poaching is not necessarily linked to the common person on the ground. If there are collaborators, it is due to the factors that have been enumerated in this House like poverty. Poaching seems to have the support of mainly high level individuals. There is no common man who can ensure that the security apparatus at our exit and entry points are switched off if he or she did not have some kind of political clout or some high ranking position in our pecking order in the society. I am also concerned about the China- Kenyan relationships. Poaching is primarily motivated by the rising middle class in China because of the economic boom that has occurred there. China has moved from a developing country to a developed country within a generation. The consequences are that if we continue to encourage it in our country, we will reduce our opportunity of earning revenue from tourism, which is a key economic pillar of our economy. I am concerned by some of the concessions that are made by our Government when it is negotiating for various funding opportunities from banks such as the Exim Bank of China to fund projects such as infrastructure. Are we not giving too much? That leads to the discourse of having countries that are usually referred to us as poor, but resource-rich countries like our country. We need to ensure that there is proper legislation. Therefore, we need to question the relationships that we are also developing with the emerging economies - especially Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - so that we do not concede too much and therefore, jeopardize our future. For example, this country’s identity is largely because of its tourism. When one travels out of the country, people are likely to ask you why we have so many elephants and yet, as hon. Toborso has observed, our children may not have seen an elephant.

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Ahsante sana, Mhe. Naibu Spika kwa kunipa nafasi hii ili nami nichangie Hoja hii. Namshukuru mhe. Ganya kwa kuleta Hoja hii katika Bunge hili ili tuizungumzie. Mambo ya wanyama wa pori yanafaa tuyazungumzie kwa sababu sisi ndiyo tunaishi nao. Tulizaliwa na kuishi na hao wanyama na tumewachunga kama vile tunawachunga ng’ombe na mbuzi wetu. Lakini ajabu ni moja. Wale wanaowachunga na wale wanaoangalia, hakuna faida wanayopata kutokana na wanyama hao. Kuua ndovu ama mnyama yeyote wa pori--- Wenzangu wamepata soko kubwa na ingefaa ijulikane ni ya nani. Sheria ingewekwa ili tujue soko hiyo ni ya nani.

Hiyo ni kwa sababu soko ya meno ya ndovu imewaangamisha watu wengi. Soko hilo linafanya wenyeji wa eneo letu la Samburu, Wamaasai na wafugaji wote kuumia kwa sababu ndovu wanauliwa na kutolewa meno. Wakazi kama sisi hatukuli nyama ya ndovu. Kwa hivyo, unapata ndovu kama 20 wameuawa na wenye wanaowachunga. Hujui wanauliwa namna gani. Kwa hivyo, ningesema kwamba, sisi wengine tunaumia kwa sababu vifaro pia wameisha. Wamebaki kwa wazungu na katika mashamba makubwa. Ukienda katika hifadhi za wanyama wa pori kama vile Hifadhi ya Wanyama ya Samburu, hutapata ndovu. Ukipata, labda mbili au tatu ukibahati. Mhe. Naibu Spika, mashamba ya ranches siku hizi hayafugi ng’ombe. Yanahifadhi wanyama wa pori. Ningeomba Serikali ilipishe mashamba hayo kodi kwa sababu ya kuhifadhi wanyama. Wanyama wanapatikana katika mashamba hayo peke yake. Katika biashara hiyo pia, tunasikia kuna mashini ya kusaga meno ya ndovu. Yanabebwa kama unga na kusafirishwa. Kwa hivyo, usalama katika viwanja vya ndege lazima uimalishwe kwa sababu ndovu wamekwisha. Kuna pahali pengine hapa nchini ambako hakuna ndovu. Wamebaki tu katika pande za Wamaasai na Taita. Ni sehemu chache ziko na ndovu na wanyama wengine wa misitu.

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Thank very much, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Motion. I wish to congratulate our colleague, hon. Ganya for bringing this Motion at a time when we must contribute to the conservation and preservation of our environment, including wildlife. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the first thing that I would like to bring forward is that we must involve our communities in the preservation and conservation of the environment, including wildlife. Wherever we find the involvement of the local communities, it is proved that conversation is sustainable over a longer period of time. What we need to ask ourselves is: What are the Government agencies that are charged with the responsibility of preserving those animals doing? What are the Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Ports Authority and security forces doing? What do those who man the roads, our borders and those who provide the necessary intelligence to help in our conservations efforts do? I ask these questions because there is no way we can have as many as 200 or 1,000 elephants killed and we do not have the requisite information for the Government to take corrective measures. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, in my own view, that is economic sabotage. Much as I do not advocate for the death penalty as has been mentioned by one of my colleagues--- In fact, that is the issue which made us say no to our beautiful Constitution during Referendum; the death penalty. At the right time, we must come up with some amendments to the Constitution so that we can remove the death penalty from our

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Hon. Shakeel is on a point of order, hon. Kemei.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, is it in order for my dear friend to say that it is China that is fuelling the illegal trade? He has said that China is supporting us in other sectors of our economy but she is not supporting us in dealing with the black market for ivory, and that we should ask ourselves whether China is a friend or not. It is not China, as a country, that is involved in that illegal trade. It may be some Chinese citizens who are involved. I do not think we can fairly condemn a whole country for the actions of two or three crooks. So, is it in order for him to bring up the issue of a country instead of the few crooks who are doing that?

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I want to inform my friend, hon. Shakeel, that if a crime is committed in Kenya by a few Kenyans, then Kenya is responsible. If a crime is committed by a few Chinese in China, then China is responsible.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support the Motion.

Hon. Members, I can see a request from the Leader of the Minority Party.

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Hon. Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Motion because we have lost so many elephants. Before I contribute to the Motion, I want to support what hon. Shakeel has said. If a few people in China are involved in ivory trade in the black market, you cannot condemn the whole country. China is a true friend of Kenya. She is doing a good job in Kenya.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, poaching needs tougher laws. I would say that the death penalty is cruel and, therefore, we should abolish it. However, I would support life imprisonment besides other measures this House deems fit to introduce, so that we can discourage poaching. Poaching affects our tourism sector and hence our national Budget. If our laws are not stiff enough, and poachers know that they can easily get away with the heinous crime of killing elephants, they will carry on with the practice. I also want to say that this is a conspiracy. It is not the poachers alone who are to blame. We should also blame those who buy the wildlife trophies, our police officers manning roadblocks, for sleeping on the job and other Government officials who do not play their rightful roles in deterring poaching. So, poaching is a result of a big syndicate since it is a billion dollar business. But it can be cracked very easily.

This morning, I passed through Pangani Police Station and noticed that it is in a deplorable condition. I am informed that game rangers are facing even worse conditions. If we do not adequately fund police officers and game rangers, who are supposed to rein in poachers; if we pay them very little salaries and if they do not have vehicles, they cannot do much. When police officers and game rangers receive distress calls about poaching or crimes that have been committed, they spend five minutes pushing their vehicles to start because the vehicles do not have starters or batteries. They do not have petrol either. When the vehicle finally starts, the officers realise that it has a puncture. So, we unfairly blame police officers and game rangers for not responding to distress calls promptly. Unless the Government appropriately equips police officers and game rangers to enable them check on crime, we will be talking about this matter endlessly, without getting any solution.

Hon. Speaker, Sir, I also feel that we should introduce satellite technology. We cannot use old systems to track down poachers because they are clever. They are always ahead of our security agencies in terms of strategy. New techniques have been used in South Africa. Kenya is the largest economy in East Africa. We can use modern technology to track poachers. What do we see our security personnel using? They use old Toyota Land Cruiser and Land Rover vehicles. Our security officers use outdated guns whereas poachers use the most modern guns. Even when police officers are informed of an incident, they always wait for a while before responding. Nowadays, poachers use helicopters since the activity is a very big syndicate. If the Government wants to stop poaching once and for all, the first step it should take is allocation of adequate resources. When there is money, game rangers can deal with poaching. I am sure that they will buy enough equipment and employ enough rangers to ensure that our wildlife sanctuaries are adequately manned. Wild animals should be tagged so that their movement can be monitored. The practice of cutting tusks from elephants is wrong. It is cruelty towards animals. Elephants without tasks cannot be elephants. Let us not think about removing the tusks from them. Instead, the Government

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Hon. Members, I appreciate the many requests to contribute to this Motion. We have about 35 requests. There is a Member who informs me that he has not spoken since the opening of this Parliament. Mheshimiwa Stephen Wachira Karani, where are you? Let me remind you hon. Members that he will be making a maiden speech and so he should not be interrupted.

(Hon. (Dr). Karani): Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. My names are hon. Dr. Wachira Karani, Member of Parliament for Laikipia West Constituency. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker for having been elected in their respective positions. I also want to thank the people of Laikipia West for giving me this opportunity to represent them in this Eleventh Parliament. I would like to oppose this Motion. The reason is this: Where I come from – that is Laikipia - in the last one year, I have had the honour to attend three burials of people who have been killed by elephants. The hon. Member who has proposed this Motion was mean in giving the figures of the population of elephants in the last five years. He gave the figures of the elephants that have been killed, but he never mentioned anything about their population, which has increased tremendously. In fact, where I come from, all you can talk about elephants is bad news. We have had cases of elephants trampling on people and their livestock. Elephants trample on our crops. We have problems with elephants. Whereas we talk about tourism, in my constituency that is one area that has killed the morale of our people. This year, for example, we had good rains in our constituency. But we fear we may not harvest much because of the elephant menace. Therefore, when I look at this Motion I feel very very sad. I look at the penalty the Mover has proposed and wonder: If, for example, we are going to jail people for 15 years and fine them Kshs10 million depending on how we

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On point of order, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir---

You are out of order, hon. Mwaura. He is making his maiden speech.

(Hon. (Dr). Karani): Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for protecting me. I was, in fact, winding up my maiden speech. I was requesting hon. Members to reject this Motion. Thank you.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Motion. Allow me to congratulate my friend, hon. Chachu, for bringing this Motion. That is because there are so many teething problems as far as tourism is concerned in this country and, especially, with regard to wild animals. Tourism is one of the main foreign exchange earners in our country. The efforts that have been put to revitalize the agricultural sector have not been put to revitalize the tourism sector. That has brought apathy where people are killing the animals haphazardly. Once we deplete those animals, I believe we shall have killed that industry. My constituency borders Meru National Park. We used to have white rhinos there. We had a lot of tourists coming to that park 15 years ago. However, today, the area is a no-go zone. The white rhinos are massacred by people who were sent to guard them. I believe it was a well organized way of killing them so that people can earn from the proceeds of the sale of those horns. I would like to urge the Government to revisit its systems and see how we can stop the killing of those animals. One of my colleagues has said that those who kill the animals are not the ones who sell the tusks. They are sent by people who, if you allow me, are called “Big Cats”. If the systems were well co-ordinated and security put in place especially in our entry points, I do not see how ivory can leave the Port of Mombasa or JKIA without being seen and yet, we can detect a gram of heroine in somebody’s pockets. That is an orchestrated move to kill this industry by the same people who should be protecting it. We need to review our systems and put up watertight measures to stop poaching. The communities living around those areas also need to be sensitized. They need to be shown the importance of those animals. They also need to be protected from the animals. My colleague has talked harshly about protecting those animals. That is because people have been trampled by animals. Their livestock is being eaten by the lions and other animals. People and wild animals should exist in harmony. As we protect human life, we also need to protect the fauna and flora. The Government, I believe, has that machinery. In our homes, we have cows, goats, cats and people. They all sleep in different places. They do not sleep together, but they live in the same homestead. That is

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Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you. First of all, this is my maiden speech. It has been a long journey and I want to congratulate all hon. Members in this House for being honoured by their constituents to come and look at their interests in this House. I also want to thank the constituents of Langata for making a wise and good choice. I promise to deliver whatever we promised during those days of campaigns.

On this Motion, I want to congratulate hon. Ganya for bringing it on the Floor for various reasons. First, tourism is a fundamental aspect in the development of this country and, as seen in the Jubilee Manifesto, they intend to increase the number from the current 1.3 million to 3 million tourists. That can only be achieved if concerted efforts are put in place. One of them is dealing with the menace of poaching. As you are all aware, tourism is now the second highest revenue income earner in this country and I would urge hon. Members to support this Motion. At the same time, I would urge hon. Ganya to expand more on this so that there is a lot of benefit from this Motion.

I am aware that there is a wildlife Bill pending somewhere and I would urge that we speed it up so that it becomes law. All the problems that we are seeing in wildlife and the tourism sector are addressed in that Bill. It will be the answer to all the problems that we have today. Poaching is dynamic; there is an offender and there is a person who benefits from it. Like most hon. Members have said, the person who is poaching is probably not the one who is benefiting from it, but he is driven by his needs. You cannot stay with wildlife, not see its benefit and still protect it when it is harmful to your crops or animals. So, there is need to look into ways of involving the communities in the management of wildlife. The problem that I see today is the creation of the KWS structure. Many people have spoken about it. The little I know about the KWS structure is that it is totally wrong. They are doing things that they are not supposed to do. If they are given back the mandate to protect wildlife, then they would have more time to look into the national parks and protect the wildlife, first against poachers and, secondly,

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Hon. Members, there is a lot of interest that this Motion has generated. We have 35 requests as of now. I want to propose that we reduce the time from ten minutes to, say, three minutes. What is your view, hon. Members?

Five minutes.

(Hon. Kajwang)

Asante sana Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda; ninaamuka kuweza kuchangia Hoja hii. Uwindaji haramu umekuwa kama kidonda sugu hapa nchini Kenya na mahali ambapo mimi ninatoka, ambapo ni Taita Taveta. Tumekuwa na shida nyingi sana kwa sababu ya wanyama. Wakati tunaangalia mikakati ya kuweza kuzuia uwindaji haramu tuangalie pia jinsi gani tunaweza kuwahusisha wananchi katika mambo ya wanyama pori. Vile vile, tunataka wajue kwamba ni jukumu lao kuweza kulinda wanyama pori kwa sababu wataweza kuwaletea faida. Unapata kwamba wananchi wana hasira nyingi sana kwa sababu hawahusishwi katika mambo ya faida kutokana wanyama pori. Hata Jumatatu niliweza kuhudhuria mkutano ambao ulikuwa umewekwa na wananchi pale Mwatate wakiwa na hasira. Wakati mvua imenyesha wanapata mimea, lakini wanakuwa na wasiwasi kwa sababu hawawezi kuvuna hii mimea. Wanyama pori wanakuja kuharibu mimea yao. Akina mama pia wanasema usiku wanashindwa kulala kwa sababu inabidi usiku wavae zile nguo za kujifunika ili kwamba waonekane kwamba pia wao ni vitu vya kutisha wanapotoka nje kwenda kulinda mimea yao. Hilo ni jambo ambalo linahuzunisha sana; wakati tunaangalia hivi inafaa tuweze kusema kwamba wananchi wanaona kwamba hawahusishwi katika mambo ya wanyama pori. Faida ambazo zinapatikana katika mbuga zetu za wanyama pori haziwafikii wale wananchi, na wengi wako katika hali ya umasikini. Wanasema kwamba wana mbuga za wanyama pori na hawapati pesa. Kule kwetu tuna Tsavo Mashariki na Tsavo Magharibi lakini faida yake ni nini? Wanaona kwamba wale wanyama pori wanalindwa zaidi kushinda binadamu.

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Hon. Halima Ware Duri.

Asante sana Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda. Kwa majina mimi ni Halima Ware Duri kutoka Tana River. Mimi ningependa kuchangia Hoja hii. Watu wa KWS ni watu ambao wanalinda wanyama kuliko watu. Nikisema hivyo, kuna mnyama anaitwa nyati. Mnyama huyu anaishi katika Tana River. Hawajaweka ua na hawajazuia wanyama kuingiliana na wananchi ama kuingiliana na mifugo wa nyumbani. Wanyama hawa wanaendelea kuua watu na mifugo. Katika eneo za Wenje, Mnazini, Haroresa na Hara watu wengi wameumizwa na huyu mnyama na hatujaona watu wa KWS wakichukua hatua. Lakini wakati ambapo wanataka kuleta mswada wa pembe za ndovu wanataka tuwasaidie kwa haraka sana. Jambo lingine ambalo ningependa kuongeza ni kwamba kuna mnyama ambaye anaishi ndani ya maji, na ambaye anaitwa “mamba” ama “ngwena”. Watu wa Tana River wanachota maji yao kutoka mto Tana, na wakati wanachota maji mnyama huyu hakosi kuua watu zaidi ya watatu kila wiki na hatujaona watu wa KWS wakija na usaidizi wa aina yoyote. Huyo mnyama anaua mifugo ama watu. Kwa hivyo, sisi tunataka watu wa KWS kwanza kabla hatujapitisha Hoja hii ingawa tunaipigia debe, waje waweke ua na wazuia wanyama hao wasiingilie mambo ya wananchi na wasiuwe wananchi ama mifugo yao. Bw Naibu Spika wa Muda, jambo lingine ambalo ningependa kusema ni kuwa lazima KWS walete uhusiano mzuri na wananchi ambao wanaishi na wao. Hapo awali kuna wakati ambapo wakiandikisha wahifadhi walipatia nafasi wale watu ambao ni majirani zao, lakini hivi karibuni hakujakuwa na jambo kama hilo. Wanaandika bila kujali majirani wao, na kama wangetia maanani suala la majirani ambao wanaishi karibu

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Hon. Ndiritu Mathenge, I understand this is your maiden speech.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Motion. Before I support it, let me say that, as the Chair has indicated, this is my maiden speech. I would like to start by thanking the good people of Gilgil for having had confidence in me. This is a new constituency and I have been given the honour of setting the standard for it. I will digress a bit before I go into the Motion of the day. Most of the Members have been in Gilgil visiting the Great Rift Valley Golf Club, which is in Gilgil. Most people think that it is in Naivasha, but when you come to the Great Rift Valley Golf Club, then you are in my constituency. Gilgil is blessed with an Army Camp, the National Youth Service and the Anti-Stock Theft Unit Headquarters; but with all those blessings, the people of Gilgil never benefit. Just as hon. Members have said, those close to the national parks do not benefit directly. The people of Naivasha have not benefited from the Anti-Stock Theft Unit Headquarters in Gilgil. Even with the Anti-Stock Theft Unit Headquarters in Naivasha, people come to Gilgil with meat boxes on pick-ups, steal cows, slaughter them and carry them as beef from the slaughterhouses. The meat is taken to as far as Rumuruti. We have had that problem for long. I would like to ask the Inspector-General to look into this. Last week, poaching of our animals was done barely a kilometre away from the Anti-Stock Theft Unit Headquarters. Yesterday, there was a Motion about bailing out the agricultural parastatals that are going to be taken to the county governments. Various factories have been in Gilgil for many years. Most of the Members have seen posho mills, farm implements and even the trolleys at the airports. They are all manufactured in Gilgil;

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Thank you, hon. Member. Let us hear from hon. James Kispkosgei Murgor; his maiden speech.

Thank for allowing me to contribute to this very important Motion, which touches seriously on the economy of this country. I would also like to stress that this is also my maiden speech. Poaching in this country has always existed, but over the years, and especially in the last few years, it has escalated. So, what is the cause of it? If we go back to the year 2007, CITES gave four Southern African countries permission to sell their stocks of the ivory; it did the same to two other countries, namely Japan and China. What were the consequences of this? The consequences were that factories which had closed in China

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Order, hon. Members! I think we have to review the time again. We still have a lot of requests and hon. Members need to ventilate on this issue. Would it be all right if we reduce the time to three minutes?

Yes.

Yes, three minutes. Let us go back to the request. Yes, hon. Prof. Nyikal.

Thank you. I have really queued. I started when it was ten minutes, five minutes and now three minutes. Others may be getting one minute. This is an extremely important Motion and I think wildlife is our greatest resource in this country. It is the main driver of tourism, which actually is our main foreign exchange earner. So, I really wish to support any measures that will protect wildlife and, therefore, enhance our tourism. All the hotels and the employees in tourism actually, their main driver is wildlife, the big five and all other animals. Anything that threatens wild animals, threatens tourism. I, therefore, support the conservation measures that have been proposed in the Motion. Community involvement is extremely important. This takes into consideration the human/wildlife conflict. We are not really talking about people who protect themselves from wild animals.

In my constituency, Seme, in the last one year, three people have been killed by crocodiles. I know there have been complaints, and so far nothing has been done by KWS. What we are talking about here are organized groups that threaten wildlife and,

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Resume your seat, hon. Nyikal. Where are you hon. Gikaria? May I remind you not to be pressing the button twice, because when you do so, you drop down the queue and lose your chance?

Thank you, Sir. I rise to support this Motion, which has been brought to this House by our brother, hon. Ganya.

Poaching has been an issue that the Government needs to take stern measures against. If you looked at hon. Ganya when he was moving his Motion, he said that the Government declared poaching in the country a disaster. When a Government declares anything a disaster, there are some measures which are supposed to be taken by the Government, so that it can address the situation once and for all. The Motion is vital but again do we go back to where the Government would again declare poaching of wild animals a disaster without taking the necessary measures? I want to agree with hon. Ganya when he gave a few suggestions as the way forward; the first one that he mentioned was amendment of the law. As hon. Nyikal said, there is a lot of corruption; we have to provide for a 15-year imprisonment term or a Kshs10 million fine or both, as indicated by hon. Ganya. We also need to take action against other people who may be involved. As we were told, there are other people within KWS who are involved due to the corrupt nature of some employees. Wildlife trophies are also passed on to other countries through our ports of exit like the sea port of Mombasa and our international airports. Therefore, if we take drastic measures, there might be a reduction in poaching. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, secondly, I want to comment on what has been said on financing of KWS. I want to agree that as much as we would want to finance KWS, it is not enough for us to finance the organisation. That is a secondary measure. The primary measure that we need to consider is what hon. Ganya indicated regarding punitive measures. The other bit is increasing the capacity of game rangers and other personnel. I want to agree with hon. Ganya that public involvement in neighbourhoods where poaching takes place is very important. As we employ game rangers, we also need to consider---

Yes, hon. Ntutu.

Thank you, hon. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to join my colleagues in thanking hon. Ganya for bringing this Motion, so that we can discuss this matter on the Floor of the House.

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Yes, hon. Nkaisery.

Thank you very much, hon. Speaker, Sir. I want to begin by thanking my friend, hon. Chachu, for bringing this very important Motion to deal with poaching. Poachers are enemies of our economy. They are enemies of this country. Tourism contributes so much to the economy of this country. Therefore, anybody who interferes with that natural resource is an enemy of this country. Severe penalties should be put in place to ensure that we curb this menace. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this “digital” Government needs to put in place “digital” measures to enable us get to the root cause of poaching. First, we need to find out the destination of the elephant tusks. We realise that some of the destinations are China and Japan. We have cordial relations with these countries. Therefore, we need to approach their embassies and tell them that their citizens should not be involved in this trade. If you cut off the consumer, poachers will not have the kind of field day they currently enjoy. The KWS has been mandated to take care of our wildlife. They should have partnered with the local people, so that they can take care of our wild animals. People who live near our national parks are not poachers. Those are the most appropriate people to be used to defend and protect our wildlife. I do not want to say that KWS officials are corrupt, but they are inefficient. They are ineffective. They have not been able to partner with the local people. In fact, there is human/wildlife conflict just because the KWS has failed to partner with the local people. Therefore, this is a very important Motion. I know that time is not on our side---

(Hon. Kajwang)

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance to support the Motion.

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(Mr. Kajwang)

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. This is my maiden speech. My names are Abdullahi Mohamed Diriye. I am the MP for Wajir South. First I would like to support this Motion. I would, however, like to support it with caution because some of the punitive measures as suggested in the Motion might not be very practical. We all know of the importance of wildlife and we need to guard that jealously. Sometimes, however, one has the feeling that the protection given to the wildlife makes things appear as if the wildlife is more important than human beings. For whose interest is the wildlife being protected? Because of that, even as we debate this Motion it is important to look at both sides of the coin. The KWS, even with the existing laws such as the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 2011 has lacked in enforcement. That could be the main problem. It is

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Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to take this opportunity to thank hon. Ganya for coming up with this Motion. It is our duty as legislators to come up with very punitive laws in order to deter poachers. I want to agree with the Mover of the Motion that we increase the number of the rangers. However, just as somebody asked, how much are we paying these rangers? Are they not conniving with the poachers? If we pay them well and assure them of good living standards like good housing then they will be able to work well. I want to agree with the Mover of the Motion that a fine of Kshs40,000 for the poachers is not enough. I suggest that poachers get life sentence. For me that is the best, so that we can get rid of this menace. I come from the slopes of Mount Elgon. We used to have the white elephants there. We no longer have them because of poaching from both Uganda and Kenya. I, therefore, want to suggest that the Government comes up with punitive measures to deter these people. I know that because of the heavy penalties that we are going to pass here this menace will be eliminated. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, because of the attraction---

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Motion and thank hon. Ganya for bringing it at the right time. As many Members have already said, poaching is a threat to our economy and our heritage. Some of us live side by side with wildlife. We treasure it. Actually, without wildlife some of our communities will not survive. Where I come from, wildlife graze alongside the domestic animals. The threat we are faced with is partly because of our neighbours. This is because of illegal firearms. In countries like Botswana and South Africa the ban on ivory was lifted. In countries like Botswana and South Africa, ivory trade contributes a lot; I think the Government of Kenya should try to see how it can engage with the countries that have already lifted the ban on ivory. The problem is the fact that people who are close to wildlife are not given an opportunity to conserve wildlife. A good example is Kajiado. The park there is not fenced and many times you can see lions and leopards coming out of the park and destroying domestic animals. You find someone with 40 cows or goats and overnight the animals are killed by wildlife. So, the KWS should do something about fencing. The other day there was a claim that there was an inside job at the KWS with

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Your time is up!

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, mine is to rise and support this Motion. It is good to discuss about the illegal poaching; one also needs to reflect on what happens to the ivory of the animals that die naturally. There is a loophole that the business goes on legally or illegally, but we need the authority responsible in this business to let us know how much ivory is obtained from those animals that die and how their ivory is disposed. The other thing is the fact that it is true that we have not invested adequately in the people who take care of parks. It is also true that the facilities at our airports are not adequate in terms of making sure that we control what goes out. What is even more worrying is that we know the market for this ivory is in foreign countries, and the trend in recent years is that the market is coming home. So, the issue is whether we can track down what is happening with the ivory locally, because there is a big market for ivory trade in the country. I would like to throw this challenge: It is true that animals have been destroying our crops and human lives but we need them in our country. It is important that the nations that trade with us need to help Kenya. I know in some of these nations, ivory trade is legal; somebody said that if somebody is doing business in such a country and is involved in poaching, that country is not responsible. I would like to differ because if a country has legalized a business that is affecting us, surely we should also take some measures to make sure that they also reciprocate in one way or the other. With those few remarks, I beg to support and urge that we put more resources in this area to make sure that poaching does not go on.

Hon. Temporary Deputy, Sir, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I would like to start by saying that poaching is an international disaster. We need to declare it as such. We also know that tourism is a major foreign exchange earner; it has been said by many speakers in this House. I would like to thank very much hon. Ganya for bringing this Motion for debate. It could not have been more timely for us to discuss the matter of poaching, and look at what actions to take. I hope that as we discuss this Motion, the Wildlife Bill is on the way, so that we do justice to ourselves and get things moving in the right direction. It has been said by several speakers on the Floor of this House that community engagement cannot be gainsaid if we want to bring a halt to poaching. I am going to speak about three elements. If we do not meaningfully engage our communities--- If we do not let our communities know that by conserving our wildlife ugali can land on their tables, we will lose the anti-poaching battle from the outset. Our communities must know that if they conserve wildlife, it can bring them food on the table. I think many speakers

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Your time is up!

Asante Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda kwa kunipa nafasi hii. Naomba kuchangia kwa kuunga mkono Hoja hii; ni kweli kabisa kwamba utalii unachangia pakubwa uchumi wetu na huleta pesa za kigeni. Nia ya Rais wetu ni kuongeza idadi ya watalii wanaofika hapa kutoka milioni mbili mpaka milioni tatu, lakini tukumbuke kwamba ili kufanya hivi ni lazima tuangalie vile vitu vinavyoleta watalii katika Kenya yetu. Imesemwa hapa kwamba wanyama pori wanachangia pakubwa kuja kwa watalii wengi katika nchi yetu. Kwa hivyo, tuna jukumu kama nchi kuhakikisha kwamba tunachunga wanyama pori wetu.

Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, imesemekana kwamba hatuwezi, kama Serikali kuweka mikakati ya kuchunga wanyama pori kama wale wanaoishi na wanyama pori, jamii ambazo zinapakana na mbuga zetu za wanyama pori. Tukitaka kuchunga wanyama pori ni lazima tutambue wale wanaoishi karibu na wanyama hawa. Tuhakikishe kwamba mambo yao ama wao wanawekwa katika mstari wa mbele katika uchungaji wanyama pori. Tumeona katika nchi hii siku za nyuma - siku chache tu zilizopita - jamii zinazoishi karibu na mbuga zetu zilichukua mishale na silaha nyingine na kutaka kuingia msituni na kuwakatakata wanyama pori; hii ni kwa sababu Serikali inaonekana, hasa shirika linalosimamia wanyama pori, kujali wanyama pori zaidi kuwashinda binadamu. Wakati wanyama pori wanapoingilia mimea na kuuwa watu Serikali haionekani kushtuka. Lakini mnyama anapokufa watu wale wanaoishi katika---

Your time is up. Hon. Raphael Otaalo. I understand this is your maiden speech too.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. My name is Raphael Otaalo, Member of Parliament for Lurambi Constituency; this being my maiden speech I will have to be a bit irrelevant.

First of all, I would like to take this chance to thank my constituents in Lurambi for having made the right choice of picking me as their Member of Parliament; I promise them that I will do my best to serve them well. Maybe for people who do not know where Lurambi Constituency is, it is in Kakamega County and so is the headquarters for the same place.

Lurambi is endowed with agricultural products, mainly sugar-cane. I remember discussing yesterday about taking parastatals to the counties, and one of the agricultural products that should be moved to the counties is sugar-cane. If people own it, I am sure

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Your time is up. Yes, hon. Mwadime.

Shukrani Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda kwa macho yako kunilenga na kunimpa fursa hii. Mimi natoka Mwatate, Taita Taveta County ambapo ninapakana na mbuga ya nyama pori ya Tsavo. Kwa kweli nashukuru kwa Hoja hii na ninaiunga mkono lakini nataka iwe na marekebisho. Ukiwauliza watu wa eneo Bunge langu kuhusu kuchagua kati ya kuwachunga na kuwaua ndovu watakuambia hawa wanyama pori wanawasumbua sana. Sisi hatujaona mvua kwa zaidi ya miaka mitatu. Tumeiona mwaka huu lakini mimea yetu imeharibiwa na wanyama pori.

Bw. Naibu Spika wa Muda, kwa kweli naunga mkono kuongezwa kwa walinda wanyama pori, lakini tuangalie wale ambao wanaishi karibu na maeneo ya mbuga za wanyama pori. Bila hivyo, hawataona umuhimu wa kuwachunga wanyama pori; naunga hii Hoja mkono lakini nataka iwe na marekebisho. Nataka tuongeze askari wa kuhifadhi wanyama pori, tuhusishe watu ambao wamepakana nai mbuga zetu katika uchungaji wa wanyama pori.

Jana usiku katika maeneo ya Mwakitau, Sorongo na Mwachapo mimea ya watu iliharibiwa sana na wanyama pori. Hatuwezi kusema watu wa Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) hawana vifaa. Mwezi jana nilikuwa Voi Safari Lodge na nikawa nauliza: Kwa nini Voi Safari Lodge inalindwa na polisi? Niliambiwa wakati walikuwa wanalindwa na watu wa KWS walikuwa wakiibiwa mara kwa mara, na hii ilimaanisha kuna tatizo fulani katika KWS. Mwenye kuleta hii Hoja, Bw. Ganya, nampongeza, lakini yafaa tuijadili kwa upana zaidi. Inahitaji marekebisho mengi sana maanake kuna tatizo kubwa sana.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Motion. I also want to congratulate hon. Ganya for having brought the Motion. I believe that when the Bill is brought to the House, the input of the hon. Members will be incorporated into it.

If we want to promote wildlife, we must also take care of the communities that live around the national parks. It is unfortunate that hon. Amina, the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources has stepped out; I

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Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this Motion and thank hon. Ganya for bringing it. Our elephants and other wildlife in general are a big national asset for us and a heritage for all humanity. So, while I support the Motion, I urge the Government to put necessary punitive measures in place, as well as measures to assist our communities to see the value of wildlife. They should get monetary returns from protecting the wildlife in our different areas. I also think we need to look at the KWS Act as well as our international partnerships to make sure that our relations with countries that benefit from this trade is--- The rest of the partners, like the UN, should work together to make sure that it is not only Kenya that bears the responsibility of protecting wildlife. It is an internal security issue, and also a global issue since we are trying to save the world’s heritage of wildlife. It is important for us to even decide how we refer to ivory poaching and elephant decimation; we need to point out that this is not a question of white gold. In many cultures in the Far East, ivory is considered to be white gold.

Hon. Members, may I call upon the Mover to reply?

Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will donate one minute to hon. Lekuton.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I wish to thank hon. Ganya. I wish to congratulate my good friend, hon. Ganya for this great Motion. There are facts that we need to understand concerning why poaching takes place. The first one is the increasing demand by the Asian countries, including South East Asia, for elephant tusks and rhino horns. The use of elephant tusks and rhino horns has religious significance. They are also used for decorative purposes. Finally, there is no co-operation from the Chinese Government and other Asian countries. If we understand these issues, we will be able to solve the problem. To quote from an international conference that is going on now in England and is chaired by Prince Charles- “We face one of the most serious threats to wildlife ever and we must treat it as a battle because it is precisely that. Organized gangs of criminals are stealing and slaughtering elephants, rhinoceros, tigers as well as large numbers of other species in a

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Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to thank all the Members who have supported this Motion. Except one Member, all those who spoke were in favour of this Motion.

Conserving our environment and protecting our elephants is our constitutional mandate under Article 69 of the Constitution. I totally agree with all the Members that we need to put punitive measures in place. Some Members have even suggested death sentence and others life imprisonment. I had proposed 15 years in jail as well as Kshs10 million in terms of penalty. All the issues that the Members have raised, like benefits to the local communities, will be dealt with by the Bill that we will bring to this House, and which will overhaul the current Act. I beg to move.

Members, it is now time to interrupt the business of the House. The House is, therefore, adjourned until this afternoon at 2.30 p.m.

The House rose at 12.30 p.m.

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