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{
    "id": 1446295,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1446295/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 192,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Joe Nyutu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "operators are young, they also need to develop a culture. I believe this particular provision will encourage them to develop a culture of saving so that they can access credit facilities. If I am hired, for example, to ride someone’s motorcycle and I am able to make some savings, I should access credit facilities. After that, I should acquire my own bodaboda so that I am self-employed and can also create employment for somebody else. That is something that is progressive. There is a requirement that before you are allowed to operate a motorcycle, you have to complete a training course approved by the board. That is important because they are engine-driven motorcycles. Some of them move at speeds of over 100 kilometres per hour and that is risky for somebody who has not been trained. It is not just risky for the rider, but also the passenger. Those are some of the issues that this Bill seeks to remedy and we must support it. We have also been having many problems with passengers. I like this Bill because it also seeks to make a passenger responsible for their own safety and that of others. In Clause 13, the Bill proposes that a passenger must wear a helmet and a reflective jacket. When you drive or are driven at night, sometimes you realise there was a motorcycle just when you were about to hit it because some of them do not wear reflective jackets and the rear lights are off or not operational at all. Therefore, you can hardly see them. Without mixing up matters, I also like the clause that requires riders to have their headlights on all the time when using roads. The fact that we are seeking to ensure that passengers are responsible by requiring them to wear protective gear and not to board a motorcycle that has already been boarded by another passenger, I think Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale had observed what happens in his and other counties because this is a problem that cuts across Kenya. We must make both the rider and the passenger responsible. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the safety of road users, something caught my eye under 17(a) that the riders will not be allowed to carry a load whose width projects more than 15 centimetres beyond the outside end of the handlebars. Some of these riders have been ferrying loads that are very wide, occupying a whole lane sometimes. You do not know how to overtake them. If you get to hit that particular load, the vehicle and the rider will get a problem. This is something that I thought should be supported. I also noted that under 17(2), we are trying to protect our roads under this Bill. Most of the boda boda riders, especially those ferrying loads like building bars, they drag them along the tarmac. This destroys our roads and we know that road construction is a very expensive thing. So, that is something very important so that we protect our roads and the riders. The riders are not safe when they drag this particular load. The stability of a two- wheeled motorcycle becomes greatly compromised by dragging loads along the road. I hope I got it right because you know where I come from when you have a load and a road, you could get problems with R and L. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only.A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and Audio Services,Senate."
}