Baringo Senator Gideon Moi on Thursday received a special envoy of Ugandan parliamentarians who had made the trip to Kenya seeking his audience.
The Ugandan Members of Parliament (MPs) were impressed by the Senator's Local Content Bill 2016 lauding it as a catalyst for economic prosperity.
Moi's bill proposes that all oil and gas companies seeking to conduct business in Kenya should be required to state how local communities would benefit from their activities before they are licensed to extract the resources.
The senator introduced the bill in 2016 and it proceeded to its second reading. However, the bill's progression was halted in 2017 when Senate was dissolved to pave way for elections.
[caption caption="Senator Moi with some of the Ugandan MPs who visited him"]
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While receiving his guests at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi, Senator Moi encouraged his fellow parliamentarians to seek similar development in their own country.
"I am delighted to welcome the Ugandan delegation here. I am happy that they have taken this path to develop a law for local content to ensure that every Ugandan benefits from their own natural resources," he stated.
He reiterated the need to have strong laws in the East Africa region that would ensure the local resources were not exploited at the expense of the citizens.
"The forests may be different but the monkeys are the same. We will support Ugandan MPs all the way as they develop their bill," he added.
Patrick Oshabe, a Ugandan legislator seeking to sponsor a similar bill in his country echoed the sentiments asserting the importance of such legislation for the sub-Saharan States.
"This is the same spirit we want the people of Uganda to embrace. If we go back home and implement what we have learnt here, they will be happy," he stated.
Senator Moi has on separate occasions been appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta to receive Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni on his arrival to Kenya for State visits.
[caption caption="File image of Senator Moi receiving Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni"]
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