Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1072504,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1072504/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 171,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "This Statement by Sen. Khaniri presents us a very important opportunity. I do not know if there is any Member of the Committee on Energy, Roads and Transport who is in this House. Such are the Statements that one day when the Ministry appears before us, when EPRA, send an invite all Senators should be present. The Zoom meetings are not sufficient. Some of these engagements, without them being physical, people do not understand the plight and pain that Kenyans are facing. Like Sen. Murkomen observed or the Senator that spoke earlier, the best paid public servants like MPs feel the pain nowadays. When you fuel, you can see the difference in the amount that you are paying. Imagine the pain that ordinary citizens who have not had an increase in their earnings, they were barely able to survive, and they rely on kerosene as a way of cooking or even lighting their house yet on yearly basis, for the last almost seven or eight years, there have been a consistent increase in the cost of fuel. At some point, we will have to have a discussion and say, what is the end of this? We are pricing Kenyans out of basic rights that are guaranteed by this Constitution. A Senator spoke about Article 43. These are grounds for impeachment. This is gross violation. Yesterday we impeached a governor here for denying the citizens of his county health services. This is an impeachable offence by those who are in charge of our energy sector. They are denying other Kenyans the chance to enjoy a good or decent life. What kind of life is this that we are forcing Kenyans to live? You need to take a drive down Mbagathi Road as you come to work to see the number of Kenyans who have to walk to their work places. They are not going anywhere near. Some of them are walking as far as Lunga Lunga Road in Industrial area. They cannot afford the cost of bus fare. On each increase of fuel price, the matatus increase fare. It is always instant. When it is released on the Friday at 2.00 p. m., I can assure you by 5.00 p.m., on that same evening, for routes where people were paying say Kshs50 or Kshs60 to get to the Central Business District (CBD), by evening, they are paying Kshs70 or Kshs80. Those people have no other alternative. It is us as a House who have to introspectively look within. Do we allow our citizens to continue to suffer or do we put an end to this madness? I plead with my colleagues who serve in the Committee on Energy, Roads and Transport that this Statement should not be taken casually. Secondly, these are the Statements that you do not need 14 days; expedite. This is a matter of national importance. Such are the Statements that you can even call EPRA to be here on Friday and many of us will avail ourselves. The people that we represent look up to us. In other jurisdictions, people work even on Sundays when there are issues such as these. You have to do away with some of these useless traditions that we have developed as a House. That, the only days we can consider issues are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The world is evolving. People are suffering. We are in a midst of a global pandemic. So many people have lost their jobs, yet somebody just sits in a well air conditioned office in Upper Hill at EPRA headquarters and says please add on to the cost. This is totally unacceptable."
}