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{
    "id": 1363690,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1363690/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 291,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nandi Hills, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Bernard Kitur",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I want to sincerely appreciate the Select Committee on Regional Integration for a Report well done. I appreciate the Chairperson and the Members for the good work. This is a very timely Report, especially as it touches on issues of trade in the EAC. Having been in this space for some time as well, I feel I really want to particularly contribute on issues that have been raised by my colleagues. When we talk, for instance, of the challenges that have been there, the issue of weighbridges has been a menace. I have a very strong feeling that all transit goods that are loaded in Mombasa essentially ought not, in any way, go through weighbridges. Why do I say so? When cargo is being off loaded from the ship, the cranes can measure the weight of these containers. When they leave the port, they usually have tracking devices installed by the KRA. As a truck moves, it is monitored all the way. If at any one point the tracking device is tampered with, the KRA, in their control room, can immediately pick that up. So, you wonder what the point of subjecting thousands of trucks to weighbridges all the way to Mombasa is all about yet you can track them. Secondly, on the issue of police roadblocks, in the same breath, as a truck goes to the port to load cargo, you have the opportunity to inspect that truck, whether you talk about its tyres or insurance. Before a truck leaves the port, all these things ought to have been checked. There is no point of stopping transit goods trucks along the way as they ferry cargo to their destinations. In fact, there are some roadblocks which are very notorious in this country that truck drivers have to park their vehicles somewhere to wait for the time police officers will leave the roads so that they can pass, which is very unfortunate and unfair. More so, they usually target trucks of foreign nationals or those with foreign number plates. These are colleagues we are trading together and they need greater support when they are on our side. I am talking about some notorious roadblocks like the one at Salgaa. It is one of the worst roadblocks in this country. It is sad that we are still discuss the issue of roadblocks in this House yet the matter has been discussed time and again. A very firm action needs to be taken. Since the Cabinet Secretary has expressed himself on this matter, unless there are people who have some interest in a particular way, the roadblocks ought to have been removed. On the issue of the agencies that participate in clearance of containers, at some point you find that the officials of certain agencies are not in the office. Time has come for us to unify all the agencies and provide for a timeline within which a certain document should be processed. That will make matters very clear and serve as a way of measuring the speed at which trucks are cleared. I can see that my time is running out very fast. We want to have unified systems that can be used between various States. On many occasions, when you reach the border, you are told that the system is down on this side of the border, but it is up on the other side. I wish we had a unified system. Lastly, on the issue of porousness of our borders, once we have the One-Stop Border Points working, let us find a way of toughening the process to ensure that our border points are 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."
}