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"id": 218670,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/218670/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. M'Mukindia",
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"speaker": {
"id": 271,
"legal_name": "Kirugi Joseph Laiboni M'Mukindia",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is quite valid. I believe so, but if necessary, I will withdraw it and replace it with the word \"outdated\". Let me say, it is an \"ancient\" or \"outdated\" mode of managing our road system. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as has been pointed out by hon. Maore, looking at classifications alone, they will tell you, quite clearly, that we have not changed for so many years as a result of which, as the Minister pointed out, we have actually been left behind even by some of our neighbours. Those of us who were privileged to travel to Uganda or Tanzania, sometimes cannot help being embarrassed when we come back home. This is because the quality of our work seems to lag behind compared to our neighbouring countries who only until the other day did not have any tarmack roads. You will wonder why this has happened, but I believe that if we have a system that is inherently inefficient and a system that does not allow for flexibility, training and so on, then, obviously, that leads to a very slow phase of change as result of which it has impacted negatively not only on social development, but economic development. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we may laud the Government and the people of Kenya for an achievement of a 6.1 per cent increase in our economic growth in the past one year. If we do not change our physical infrastructure, it is going to be totally impossible for us to achieve the Government projected 10 per cent growth per year in order to ensure that we not only eliminate poverty in this country, but also make Kenyans prosper. In other words, there are some structural problems in our system that need to be adjusted both legally and organisationally to ensure that we achieve that target of 10 per cent growth per year. I, therefore, would like to congratulate the Minister because he has taken the first step to ensure that, at least, the road management structure is changed. This will give him more flexibility to ensure that he manages it more effectively in the future. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the reason why I was saying that our system is currently outdated or ancient and very inflexible--- If you look at the kind of roads that have been built over the years, 44 years after Independence, you will realise that the allocation of funding to various projects has been rather haphazard and has led, in fact, to the Members of this House to feel that there is either partisanship or favouritism in the way that funds have been allocated to build roads in the past. Hon. Members cannot be blamed and wananchi, in general, cannot be blamed for having this kind of view because if you look at things on the ground, there are certain things you cannot explain. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, just cast your eye to three provinces in this country: Eastern Province, Coast Province and North Eastern Province. You can count the number of kilometres of tarmack in those provinces and yet they constitute almost half of the country! If you come to a place like Meru, where two or three years ago, people were saying a lot of resources had been allocated there, I have one road that has been in the books for many years, a road that serves eight tea factories, from Maua to Chogoria, and numerous coffee factories, and yet, although it has been our number one priority for years for tarmacking, this has not been done. While we understand that there have been problems of funding, one cannot help but think that something is wrong. Why would you have eight coffee factories grounded, because it just rained one day; the same factories that bring in foreign exchange? I am talking about the Meru-Githongo- Chogoria Road and Meru-Mukinduri-Maua Road; just those. This is just one example. Why is it that a highway such as Isiolo-Moyale Road, 44 years after Independence, has not been tarmacked? I June 12, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1725 am aware that the Minister is making major strides in his efforts to achieve this currently, and I congratulate the current Government for all the work they are doing. But in the past, one may wonder, how can you lock out a whole three provinces inland, when there are opportunities for economic development to open up for wananchi living in those areas and to enable them economically? What reason is there for locking up three provinces, such that when it rains, people cannot move? Going further, just to give you one example, if you look at the Isiolo-Modogashe-Garissa- Garsen Road, and then access to the Coast, again, if you were in Isiolo, you need to come all the way to Nairobi in order to go to the Coast. Why do you need to do that? That road can open up markets not only for livestock exports, but also a lot of agricultural exports and a lot of tourism along the whole of Tana River. Why is it that in all these years, it was not felt necessary to open up these areas? I sympathise with those hon. Members who come from those areas who feel short- changed. I wish to tell the hon. Minister, for whom many of us have a lot respect, that in allocating funding in the near future, because we do not know whether we will be there next year, could he kindly look at these areas? These people really feel short-changed. If you look at the distribution of tarmac roads in this country, definitely, Eastern Province, Coast Province and North Eastern Province have been consistently short-changed for the last 44 years. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it also seems to me that, in terms of planning, past Governments have failed in planning in such a strategic way that you allocate funds to where you can get maximum economic benefits. This has not happened and, therefore, it leads to cries of favouritism and so on. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to point out to our technical staff in the Ministry that while the politicians, Ministers, and the Government do the best they can, at the end of the day, if the technical people do not do their jobs, and I am glad to see them here, honestly there is nothing that we, as politicians, can do. As a person who is trained in engineering myself, I am very embarrassed to see what our engineers do. It is not even engineering, but basic common sense. How do you build a road without drainage? Anybody from Standard Seven can tell you that if you build a road and you do not provide drainage, you are wasting your money. Why is it that our engineers consistently do this? I do not think it is because of political pressure. If I take the case of the district I come from, I know for sure that the current three Members from Meru Central District do not put any political pressure on the engineers there, yet the same things happen. What explanation can the technical people who are represented here, and I am glad they are here, give to Kenyans as to why they design roads that have no drainage? What excuse can they give?"
}