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{
    "id": 1129017,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1129017/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 412,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nambale, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Sakwa Bunyasi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2511,
        "legal_name": "John Sakwa Bunyasi",
        "slug": "john-sakwa-bunyasi"
    },
    "content": "engineers included. There are people who will do a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering and will move on to do something on finance, law or other areas. They have somehow an understanding of the engineering, but they have also integrated themselves into the future of where things are going, where it will not just be engineers around the table. Even if they are engineers, they need to get substantive training in areas of management. One of the biggest issues we have in our roads construction is not that the engineers do not know how to do the design and understand it. It is that the contract making, for example, seem to be quite sloppy. We are getting our contractors who are being recruited to do roads, but they are not qualified because they seem to come in because of who they know and so on. The kind of challenges we have with the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) or Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) are not usually about the quality of the engineering on roads. At times, there are quality aspects in terms of how they have been done but that does not mean the specifications are not right. They are, but it is largely because they are not managing contractors well. That is where the challenge and frustration are with those agencies. So, our total emphasis on engineering qualification is probably inadequate in today’s world. We should accept that careers can be modified. To think it is right to just look at an engineer and all the qualifications required in engineering is looking back. We should also look forward as we discuss this. Let me go back to one more point. Indeed, if the members of the profession feel that by the time you reach 48 years it is too late, I want to tell them that it is not. We should simply state that we need somebody who has been certified by the Board or by the Institute, whatever the case is. Being certified simply means that you are competent. It has been said in this House before that there are countries like France where the President was elected at the age of 34 years. I am not sure where it was also in Latvia where the President was elected at 31 years. Why are we then going to pass something that will make it 40 years? Why do we not make it less than that? I did not find that argument scientific. It is like they just looked at this and made that proposal. I do not think we want to put something in the law whose outcome is unclear. I believe by the time a person is a qualified certified engineer, he/she may be 30, 31 or 32 years old and, therefore, good enough to lead the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA) in a different direction. That is because of being more up to date than those who are 48 or 50 years old. Whereas the improvements are moving in a direction, where people seem to think they are good ideas, I do not think the arguments of reducing by five years are solid and worth it. Why not reduce by 10 years, so that the 35-year-olds can head or even become the President of this Republic. They can lead everything else including the roads sector. I am not enthusiastic with this. My final remark is that the Chair of the Committee must be conscious of the serious disparities in the road sector and implementation since the Jubilee Government came to power. I do not think we should make any statements implying we are happy. I find that almost insulting. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker."
}