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"id": 184443,
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"speaker_name": "Mrs. Shebesh",
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"id": 377,
"legal_name": "Rachel Wambui Shebesh",
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"content": "education and issues of development. The other day when we were discussing the Vote of the Ministry of Education, there was some money allocated to development of schools in terms of building classrooms. So, how much money are we giving to build classrooms if we are getting some from the Ministry of Education, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government and CDF? Most Members of Parliament take a huge chunk of CDF to schools. Really, what are we doing as a Government? Are we speaking and listening to each other? Let us be fair to Kenyan people and Nairobi residents. We have bigger problems than building more schools. For the information of the Minister, most students in Nairobi now go to non-formal schools simply because of the problem of lack of teachers. If you were to talk to the Ministry of Education, you would know that non-formal schools is where most of our students are in the slums of Nairobi. Therefore, we cannot use Kshs700 million to build schools that are already being deserted. We must find out first and foremost what the problem is. The problem for me is not a problem that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government can solve because it is not their mandate. It is the mandate of the Ministry of Education. We have a problem with the education system and lack of employment of teachers and, therefore, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government must hold on to this Kshs700 million. For heaven's sake, hold on to this money because if you put it into these schools in Nairobi, you will have created the biggest den of corruption that is going to make us be blacklisted after the end of this year! Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I also want to speak about the issue of fires. Fires in Nairobi occur in slums. Two or three weeks cannot pass without a slum with over 200 homes burning somewhere to the ground. I would like to know when the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government will realise that a lot of emphasis needs to be put into fire fighting in slums because that is key for us in Nairobi. We have a lot of fires every two weeks and you know that. If there was a way to look into this problem by making sure that slums are accessible to fire fighting equipment and that, that equipment is close enough to the slums, we would be doing a service. If we just allocate money to fire fighting and then those fire fighters cannot reach the slums, again as I said, this is a disservice. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to say that because the Minister is taking over from a past system that had a lot of faults, I would want him not to just carry on with those faults. I October 14, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2691 would like him to take the bull by the horns and look at some issues. When he came in, he did something about nomination of councillors but I will agree with my colleagues that still he did not take the bull by the horns. Nomination of councillors cannot be taken for granted and cannot be at the whims of either a particular person or political party at that time. I would suggest that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government needs to look at nominating councillors who can add value to that local authority. For example, if we are nominating councillors in Nairobi from among the parties, we should give guidelines to those parties in order to bring a new breed of councillors who are either surveyors, planners or people who can add value. If you do it that way, then you will start giving us structures and not leaving it to the whims of one or two people to make critical mistakes. Another critical mistake that I see the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government continuing with - and, again, I would like to raise the red flag, is the issue of Muthurwa Market. I would like the Ministry to call Nairobi residents and ask them whether they would want another Kshs200 million put into Muthurwa Market. Muthurwa Market, first of all, brought a lot of insecurity in that area. Again, it forced the transport system to stop there, so that Kenyans are forced to buy things there by force. Then, on top of that, those who were allocated spaces in Muthurwa Market - and I say this without an apology - were not people of Nairobi. They were brought in by the power brokers of the day from their villages. Today, if we go to Muthurwa Market, we will not find the hawkers who we were finding on the streets, who were women and young people from Kariobangi or Korogocho slums. We will find people who have come from Nyeri or Murang'a, who in the evening after trading in Muthurwa Market, will take their buses back home. Do not mistake Muthurwa for a success story in Nairobi. It is not! Again, if we are going to look into the issue of markets, we must make sure that they are creating jobs for the people of Nairobi. Markets are not only there to serve people, but they must also create employment opportunities. So far, the markets are not doing so for us, especially Muthurwa Market. I think the establishment of Muthurwa Market was political. We saw what happened towards the end of last year, when hawkers were not being touched because of politics. Then, Muthurwa Market was created. Muthurwa Market was a political answer. Now, since politics is over and we are looking at development, let us look critically at the issue of markets. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, on the issue of health centres, I think we have ghost health centres in this country. If you go to any constituency in Nairobi, you will find three or four dispensaries or health centres that were run by Nairobi City Council. Today, all are \"ghosts\" health centres. This is because inside there you will find one or two nurses who have no medicine. Even to take patients there, is just to take them to death. Really, what is it that we can do about these health centres? If they are no longer under the mandate of the Office of Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government, then can they be under the Ministry of Medical Services and be made clear that they are no longer under Nairobi City Council, so that Nairobi residents are aware? Lastly, let me speak about the Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan Development vis-a-vis the Office of Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government. I can assure you that Nairobi residents are confused. We still do not know what the Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan Development is about and what the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government is all about. This is because what we know is that for the Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan Development to exist something must be taken away from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government. What is it that has been taken away and given to the newly created Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan Development? We would want to know so that we know where to go when we have issues and we do not have to take them to the wrong place. Neither do we want roles to be duplicated nor conflicts in issues that are very sensitive, for example, the issues of development of infrastructure. Is it now 2692 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 14, 2008 under the hands of the Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan Development or still under the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government? It is critical for us to know these differences because the buck must stop somewhere. I cannot be floating between two Ministries or Ministers. For us, as Nairobi residents, we have been comfortable with the Ministry of Local Government because we have been used to it and we have understood it. We would like to be comfortable with the Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan Development by understanding it. For me, the two Ministries must come together. If there are any issues that have not been cleared, sort them out and then call the stakeholders in Nairobi and make it clear what the Ministry of Local Government is now doing or not doing and what the Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan Development is doing, so that we can have a direct access to the services that we need. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I beg to support."
}