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{
    "id": 1342324,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1342324/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 223,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nakuru Town East, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. David Gikaria",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. First of all, I thank Hon. TJ Kajwang’. Last week we were in a seminar in some place and Hon. TJ Kajwang’ taught me the jurisdiction of the lower courts, the High Court, the Court of Appeal all the way up. We thank you, Hon. TJ, because you have stated the facts of law. I want to state facts on the ground as they are. In the 11th Parliament, as Hon. TJ Kajwang’ has indicated, we tried to propose that some of these roads be classified through the normal process of legislation. But the Council of Governors (CoG) went to court to stop the process of legislating to classify those roads. There is no way that roads that were being used in the 1960s and 1970s are still in use currently. There are some roads which need to be upgraded to bitumen standards because they have become very important. The CoG went to court and tried to stop the process. That is the reason for the current poor state of our roads. In August 2015, as indicated in the Report, county governments were given a conditional grant of 15 per cent. But as a few of my colleagues have indicated, if you visit the counties and see the reality on the ground, you will be shocked. I know you know what they do in your county because you are a Member of a single constituency. I believe it is not different from what happens in our counties. The status of our roads is very bad because when county governments undertake to do those works using money from the KRB, they do a shoddy job. For example, in my constituency in the ward where I come from, civil engineers indicate the spacing if you are dumping, say, 20 tonnes of murram. But you will be surprised that a truck of 20 tonnes goes for around 50 metres. Once it is spread, what happens to that road? Within a week, it goes back to its previous status yet money, equivalent to what KeRRA is doing currently, has been used. That is the horrible status on the ground. I want to agree with Hon. KJ that counties have become overly dependent on what is sent from the National Government. This is because of the revenue allocations through the formula that we have passed here in Parliament. So, they put in their pockets what they collect. They also do not care whether they collect or not, as long as some money will be sent down to the counties on a monthly or quarterly basis for them to use. They have become dependent on money that they do not even care to collect. Thanks to devolution, they have to be given money all the time. I happened to be a mayor back in 2010. The Local Authorities Transfer Fund (LATF) was the only money. It was around Ksh50 million. It made a huge difference then. Yesterday I had to give Ksh10,000 to a Member of County Assembly (MCA), who had been given trucks with no facilitation. What has happened to the counties? They have bought trucks and graders. The money from KRB goes towards repairing the same graders and trucks. Unfortunately, these trucks and graders are never taken to the ground for maintenance of these roads. That is the worst status. In my county, they have bought some equipment for repairs yet there is no repair. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}