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{
    "id": 1093776,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1093776/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 267,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, today I am happy to be a Senator because of the kind of issues we are discussing. I thank Sen. Sakaja for bringing these issues, which are very important. A year ago, precisely on 7th August, 2020, Ahmednasir, a renowned lawyer in this country, was awarded Kshs750,000 by a court because his car, a Bentley Bentayga was damaged by a chip on the road. Today, Sen. Sakaja is talking about kids who are being killed while crossing the road. To be honest with you my dear brother, Sen. Sakaja, this issue calls for a public interest litigation. I am happy that my dear friend, Sen. Omogeni, Senior Counsel, has spoken about that and also brought in the issue of Chapter Six of the Constitution. If you heard or read that judgment, you would see that the judges wanted to push for accountability on people manning public utilities. It is time Sen. Sakaja called for public interest litigation. We need to have a class lawsuit because there is no point as to why Parliament should be allocating so much money to the Department of Transport yet that money is not being used to help people. Earlier this year, all the leadership of Narok went to Naivasha with security operators to discuss on how they can ensure safety on the road from Mai Mahiu to Mulot because of constant roadblocks by the people because their cows were being killed. It took the intervention of the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government for the Maasais to stop blocking the roads and push the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) to put up signage of animal crossings. If it will take a class lawsuit to action or this Senate to ensure that the people of Nairobi and those who live in other parts of this country are protected when they use the road, then it is time we took those steps. There is no reason as to why we should care about people who can defend themselves. I dare say that if it was just another Kenyan, a hustler or a mama mboga, who can afford a small vehicle and their windscreen was broken, there is no way they would have been compensated. However, because lawyer Ahmednasir knows his rights, he took that Government agency to task. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as you commit this Statement to the Committee on Roads and Transportation, Sen. Sakaja needs to think deeper and make it broad. He should not only focus on Nairobi but look at the entire road users in Kenya especially pedestrians. If you wake up early at around 4 a.m., in the morning, you will find Kenyans walking from Kikuyu going all the way to Industrial Area so that they can get food for their families. They do not care when they cross the road. If it is raining, some of us who drive splash water on them."
}