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"speaker_name": "Mr. Nyachae",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Roads and Public Works",
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"id": 342,
"legal_name": "Simeon Nyachae",
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"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that The Kenya Roads Bill be now read a Second Time. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the objective of this Bill is to implement the comprehensive reform of the management of the roads sub-sector in Kenya in accordance with Sessional Paper No.5 of 2006 on Management of the Roads Sub-Sector for Sustainable Economic Growth. It is important to give the background to this Bill. Before I mention some of the features of the Bill, allow me to reveal the background to the roads sub-sector reform. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have made a frank and unflinching assessment of the state of our roads sub-sector. The challenges faced by the sub-sector include the following: There is a large backlog of road rehabilitation and maintenance operations that require urgent attention. These operations need large amounts of funding to be sustained over several years. There has been commendable improvement in funding in the last few financial years. However, available financing for road development, rehabilitation and maintenance is still inadequate. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is a severe vehicle congestion on roads within large towns, and lack of sufficient parking. There is heavy dependence on development partner assistance. Axle load enforcement and rules relating to configuration of heavy vehicles need to be improved. The current institutional framework for managing roads is too cumbersome to yield any further gains in efficiency and effectiveness. There is inadequate local contracting capacity. There is no mechanism for private sector investment in the funding of road development or maintenance. Laws applicable to the road sub-sector need to be consolidated. Road reserves are not adequately protected, and some have been encroached upon extensively. Stakeholder involvement and participation is insufficient. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the above challenges are not unique to Kenya. In the 1990s, a World Bank programme known as \"the Road Maintenance Initiative\" studied the road problems of sub-Saharan African countries, and a broad consensus was formed by the participating countries, including Kenya, that the way forward was for each country to ensure that the following four basic building blocks were put in place. First, there must be involvement of road users. Secondly, there must be clarified responsibility. Thirdly, there must be stable financing. Fourth and lastly, there must be an effective and business-like approach. In 1993, the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund was set up to provide stable financing. In 1999, the Kenya Roads Board was set up and granted the mandate to efficiently manage the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund. It is necessary for us to put in place the other three building blocks without further delay. In the year 2005, the Government began the process of broad consultations so as to decide on the way forward for the road sub-sector. A steering committee was formed with a membership from various Ministries, along with representation and technical support from some of our key development partners. That Committee reviewed the previous studies in Kenya and the reform efforts of other countries, including our neighbours. The committee and the Ministry convened stakeholders conference in May last and keenly took note of the views of stakeholders June 12, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1719 and road users. Last year, this House discussed and approved the resulting Sessional Paper No.5 of 2006, on the management of the road sub-sector for sustainable economic growth. The Sessional Paper spelt out consistent sustainable and co-ordinated policies for the roads sub-sector. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill puts those policies into action and carries out wide ranging institutional reforms which are mentioned in the Bill. At present, the roads sub-sector is managed in such a manner that various organisations that have overlapping responsibilities for different parts of the road network and co-ordination is not always good enough. The Roads Bill will allocate clear responsibility for any road to a specific organisation and separate roads policy and oversight from the implementation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will now briefly describe the contents of the Bill. Part I of the Bill contains preliminary provisions. Part II of the Bill establishes the following autonomous organisations. One, Kenya National Highways Authority. Two, Kenya Rural Roads Authority. Three, Kenya Urban Roads Authority. Part II provides that each authority shall have a board with substantial representation from stakeholders, who are not members of the public service. Part III of the Bill provides for the administration of each authority. Part IV provides for the general powers of the authorities. Part V contains financial provisions, while Part VI contains miscellaneous provisions. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the First Schedule sets out the classification of public roads, while the Second Schedule stipulates the organisations to nominate persons for appointment as members of the boards. The Third Schedule relates to the conduct of business of the boards, with the Fourth Schedule containing transitional provisions. The Fifth Schedule contains consequential amendments to other Acts. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in recognition of the success of the District Road Committee concept, and in consultation with the responsible Parliamentary Committee, the Ministry strongly supports the increase of the amount of the Roads Fund allocated equally to all constituencies from 16 per cent to 20 per cent. The allocation to the districts is increased from 10 per cent to 12 per cent, while the allocation to the national roads is adjusted downwards from 46 per cent to 40 per cent. These changes will lay greater emphasis on rural roads and access roads which are closer to wananchi . Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Road Bill proposes to take away the responsibility of day to day implementation of road works from staff within my Ministry, that of Local Government and local authorities, and assign that crucial role to the three autonomous statutory organisations. The Kenya Roads Bill before us today, which is the culmination of many studies and years of consultations--- I repeat with all sincerity and good faith that the time has now come to put into practice the long planned reforms of the road sub-sector in Kenya. Whereas some other developing countries have completed their road reforms and are already reaping the social and economic benefits of good roads, with this Roads Bill, the road sub-sector in Kenya is expected to quickly become a leading regional example of efficient and effective road management. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I did not want to say much. This is an introduction. With those few remarks, I beg to move."
}