constituency public hearings, mandera east ... - ConstitutionNet

49you come to passports, the same thing again, with passports. I think may be Members of Parliament, prominent businessmenget the passports, otherwise the common man here does not get the passport. I wish I had one birth certificate, I would haveshown the commission. It says that birth certificate is not ______ (inaudible) that you have attained Kenya citizenship. Thisone does not apply to other Kenyans, it is only in North Eastern Province. Why does one apply for a birth certificate? What isits benefits? If you are given, and here below, it is written that one is not approved, one is not a Kenya citizen. It doesn’t help.The other one is on gender balance: I believe, it is true there should be gender balance, on employment, on everything, I knowour people here, they believe that mothers are supposed to do this, and fathers are supposed to do this. This is not the case. Ifthe mother can cook better, or may be she can do the farming better, she should be set free. Employment: I know the religionis somehow restricting them, let them be given the freedom, there should gender balance.Relief: there is somebody who has commented before me here, this one is bringing laxity, to our people. I’m now 44 years, wehave been getting relief, why musnt the relief be in rice forms, why musnt it be in wheat flour, why musn’t it be a balanced diet,why not delicious food, why necessarily maize,? You see, somebody gets maize maize, maize, this is the thing. Why don’t welook for other ways? Because I believe this maize is bought, not free. We invest this money into other activities which can bringsomething back to place. Or alternatively you make a change.The last few points are: I believe every child born in Kenya has a right, and he should benefit, but in this case, in this province,there is no profit that we get. Welfare should also be quoted. Finally on the issue of, there was an issue where we were talkingof population, and the land, when coming to electio. You should consider the land, the distance, not the population. So that’sall I have.Com. Lenaola: Ashmi Abdi, say your name and then continue,Ashmi Abdi: I am Ashmi Abdi, I would like to make some points here. If I may start, we have got problems in water. Sincewater is the basic for life, and here we pay for the water, we would like the Government to make it free of charge.On security: we are bordering Ethiopia and Somalia where there is no proper security, we would like the Government tostrengthen the security.On livestock: we would like the Government to look on our affairs concerning livestock, for marketing, because we don’t haveanywhere else to market our animals.Wildlife: there is some wildlive that is endangering the people, we would like the Government to compensate for these peoplewho have been killed by these wild animals, as it has been said. For a man probably 300,000, for one camel 20,000, for a