HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 205463,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/205463/?format=api",
"text_counter": 189,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Muchiri",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Local Government",
"speaker": {
"id": 225,
"legal_name": "Muchiri Geoffrey Gachara",
"slug": "geoffrey-gachara"
},
"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is nice that I have got this chance because I have been here since 2.30 p.m. I beg to support this Motion. The Ministry of Transport is quite an important Ministry in this country. The Ministry supervises very strategic parastatals like Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Kenya Railways and so on. Those parastatals must wake up to the fact that, they can make a lot of money for this country. That way, we can stop borrowing money from outside. Whereas I acknowledge that the management of those parastatals is now improving, I want them to do better. This is so that we generate money, in particular, from Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) which are cash cows for this country. I want to inform their management that whereas they have done a good job, I want them to do even better. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, a lot has been said about road carnage. I think the Assistant Minister for Transport, Mr. Githae, explained that they are more or less dealing with policy and enforcement lies with other arms of the Government. Perhaps, therefore, we should be able to lay the blame where it lies. We want drivers in this country to be controlled. The causes of road carnage in this country is speeding. Sometimes our drivers do not have the necessary experience. I want to urge that Public Service Vehicle (PSV) drivers must now attain a certain level of education. Days are gone when driving was only left to those who could not get to secondary education. Driving should now become a very honourable profession, so that we encourage people who are able to pass a certain aptitude test to take it up. For that reason, those who are charged with issuing driving licences must now go beyond the art of driving. What am I saying? I am saying that we need to make that examination more stiffer than it is now. For one to be a driver, particularly a PSV one, one needs a lot of training. I also want to inform Kenyans that we are having accidents because we have neglected maintenance of our vehicles. In fact, the culture of maintenance in this country is nowhere. It is not even there on our buildings, machinery or vehicles. That is why accidents are happening. Okay, we 3716 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES September 5, 2007 can also apportion blame to human error and the rest of it where some drivers drive when they are not sober. It is the responsibility of the traffic police to curb such things. In my constituency, for example, sometimes I come across three roadblocks manned by traffic policemen. Do we really need three to four roadblocks full of traffic police officers on the road and yet accidents still continue to happen? I think much as this Government is trying to curb corruption, I think it is still rampant in the police force. I do not know how we will stop it. We should go back to recruitment and ensure that our policemen must now enforce the law, so that we can curb all these accidents that we have in this country. I think this is the point. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of traffic jams has been talked about. I do not want to start lamenting about traffic jams in the morning and evenings. What solutions do we have? I have always thought that we should have staggered hours of work. Why should everybody report to work at 8 O'clock in the morning and leave at 5 O'clock in the evening? Where did we get this culture from? If we continue doing so, we cannot avoid traffic jams on our roads. So, we should have staggered our working hours for selected industries and ministries, so that we can ease traffic jams on our roads. I believe if we construct bypasses in this country, we can ease traffic jams. I have in mind for example that bypass road from the airport. It is necessary to get that bypass done from Mombasa Road all the way to Langata Road. Right now, people are using it, but the road is so rough. It goes along the national park. I think the Ministry of Roads and Public Works should be told to make that road better, so that all vehicles coming from the airport can divert that way and then we shall not have vehicles coming through the city centre. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we, as the Ministry of Local Government, are willing also to assist in terms of enforcing the law regarding traffic. We are now asking our people to ensure that motorists violating zebra crossings and those ones over-speeding be reported to the police. We are also willing to ensure that there is order in all bus stops and stages in this country by using our personnel so that as a Ministry of Government we need to take the bull by the horns. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a very important Ministry and the twin issues again of matatus and safety belts recur. Kenyans must understand that one does not need to be forced to fasten a safety belt. I think this culture must start setting into us because we can save a lot of lives if we respect safety belts. One should belt up when one driving his or her own car. It is not necessarily that one must be in a matatu, so that they belt up. It is important that all drivers irrespective of whether they are driving their own private vehicles or whatever, should observe this particular aspect that was introduced during the Michuki time. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Ministry is also responsible for focusing on the weather. We are treated to this particular aspect every evening in the televisions. The Meteorological Department is doing its best. However, I think they must improve their science of focusing on the weather alone. Weather is fairly important to air communication and agriculture. It is necessary that they are able to do some projections of some sort so that they do not just tell us about their short-term predictions. I think they should do a bit more of long-term kind of planning, so that they can focus weather in a longer-term so that farmers and other people benefit from those services. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have an issue with the Ministry for their continued support of the Kenya Railways Corporation. I was looking at the Printed Estimates of last year and noticed that they were given about Kshs125 million. The Ministry's support to that corporation is now dwindling. Kenya Railways Corporation is the biggest landlord in this country. They own nearly the whole of Industrial Area. They are the superior landlords of industrial area. They also own a lot of houses. For whatever reasons, it was run down, I do not know by who. I would like to urge the Minister that if there was anybody who run down the Kenya Railways Corporation, I think that kind of person should never hold any public office in this country because this was once a September 5, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3717 upon a time a very rich corporation which went down the drain. We are now talking of concessioning and what does it mean? It means that we are unable to run our affairs. I also do not believe in the concessioning at the airport that you must get somebody to run a very simple facility to charge vehicles getting into the airport. What are you lacking? Why can you not give it to a managing agent and let him or her charge five per cent of whatever he or she collects other than giving somebody to make money with the public facilities? I beg to support."
}