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"id": 234278,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Khalwale",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for East African Community",
"speaker": {
"id": 170,
"legal_name": "Bonny Khalwale",
"slug": "bonny-khalwale"
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"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this most noble Motion by hon. Ojode because the majority of us here represent the rural poor who are most hit by the arbitrary increases in petroleum products prices. I would, therefore, like to congratulate hon. Ojode for coming up with this good Motion and I urge the House to join him in ensuring that the Motion is passed very quickly. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to look at this Motion in terms of the impact of high cost of kerosene to the people in rural areas. I am afraid that when this year's KCPE results will be announced, the rural children will have performed poorly because they rely on kerosene to do their homework and I am sure that most families cannot afford the kerosene that is very expensive today. This will deny this country able brains that would have gone on to become doctors, engineers or other professionals ten years from now. When petrol and kerosene are expensive, the end result is that it increases poverty. This is because money that would have been spent on other amenities is then channelled to buying kerosene for cooking, especially in the slum areas. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when you look at the cost of petrol and diesel, it also hits the poor very seriously. I saw the Minister for Energy asking motorists to go and fuel at filling stations where the prices are competitive, and I realise that he does not quite understand the urgency of this problem. The problem is not with the motorists because a difference of two or three 3654 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 15, 2006 shillings does not count much for somebody who owns a motor vehicle. The real problem is with the poor. I have experienced a tremendous increase in the cost of ferrying bodies to the rural areas. The cost of ferrying a body has almost trebled on the excuse that the cost of petrol is high. Similarly, the cost of travelling from Machakos Country Bus Station to Mombasa or Western Province and other parts of the country has gone up on the pretext that the cost of fuel has gone up. This is something we cannot take lightly because the people who use public means to go upcountry or carry their dead are not usually rich people. Members of this House, especially from Western Province and Nyanza Province where we accord a lot of respect to the dead, will be happy if this Motion is enacted because then, the high cost of carrying those bodies will go down. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, every week I go to Arusha. Like what we see here, we have many citizens walking from Kibera and other slums to go to Industrial Area to work, you see the same thing. When you reach the flower farms on your way to Arusha, you see citizens walking in very large numbers from the flower farms going to Kajiado or Kitengela on foot. We must speak for and support the poor. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in conclusion, I urge the Government to address the issue of wastage, especially in Nairobi. If you were to calculate the amount of money that is wasted because of traffic jam in this country, it would go into billions of shillings. That is why the Government should consider prioritising the concessioning of our highways. I am told that when the new roundabout was done in Westlands, an average of half a billion shillings is saved every year, yet it cost very little money to construct it. So, it is important that the Ministry of Roads and Public Works should address the issue of traffic congestion in the city urgently. This is nothing new. If you go to Bangkok, Thailand you will find some of the best highways in the world. This is because they simply concessioned all the roads in that city 25 years ago. I hope the Minister will prepare an urgent paper, present it to Cabinet and make sure it gets the necessary approval for us to get the proper transport network in this country. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}