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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kinyanjui",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Roads",
"speaker": {
"id": 48,
"legal_name": "Lee Maiyani Kinyanjui",
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"content": " Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to this very important Speech by the President. I wish from the outset to thank him for having presented a very well-balanced Speech which was able to cover most of the issues that are actually affecting the country today. Before I go to the substantive issues, I also wish to take this opportunity to identify with Kenyans who lost their loved ones during the Hells Gate tragedy where young people who had gone on a picnic at the Hells Gate National Park lost their lives but unfortunately, we have not been able to really address some of these issues that are associated with the disasters coming now that we are having heavy rains. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is also expected that as the heavy rains continue many of the other places where we are likely to have flooding should actually be zoned and the public should be advised accordingly so that we do not have a repeat of this. On the same note, we also had probably one of the worst accidents over the weekend where a Nissan matatu belonging to Mololine from Nakuru, which I represent, was involved in an accident and over 14 people died on the spot. All these people come from my constituency. I also wish to take this opportunity to pass my condolences, and more importantly, to ask the Ministry responsible, which is the Ministry of Transport, to be more vigilant and also to ensure that the road safety that you have been talking about is adhered to on the roads. One important thing that I would like to share about the accidents is that when we had the “Michuki Rules” the number of road accidents had actually dropped to a very significant level. You will recall that after Mr. Michuki left the Ministry of Transport he did not leave with any laws. But after he left we have seen the number of accidents increase day by day. Therefore, I think it is important for the Government, and also for the people who are concerned, to take it seriously that Kenyans are losing their lives every day. I think our roads are becoming more and more of killer roads than anything. With those few remarks regarding those two incidents, allow me straight on to go to the issues that the Head of State raised yesterday and once again to join those who have been able to be honest enough because sometimes when we come here we are more interested in the politics of the day than on the reality on the ground. To appreciate that for once in the slums of Kibera among other slums, Kenyans who live in those slums have now been guaranteed a different mobility. Before, people who lived in the slums could only move from one slum to another. But today through the Kibera Slum Upgrading Programme we have seen Kenyans move from those shacks to houses that have been constructed under the Slum Upgrading Programme. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, this is a great thing happening to Kenyans. As you know, for a long time Kibera has actually been a major tourist attraction not because of anything good that is happening but because of the deprivation that we see there; the level of crime and the sanitation issues that we have there. But as we go there today we will see what the Government has done and has been able to transform the lives of Kenyans. I believe this will be replicated in other areas in the country and also to appreciate the lighting that has been done in those informal areas. This among other issues at the slum level, at the lowest levels of the lowest levels, has been able to bring a great change in this country. The Head of State was also able to congratulate Kenyans because today more than any other time we were able to finance our Budget up to the tune of about 95 per cent. This means that we have to rely on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other donors for only 5 per cent. This is remarkable. It will be remembered that a few years back we were relying on other donors up to the tune of about 40 per cent, which would have to come from outside. I remember a couple of years back Kenyans would be sitting, waiting anxiously to hear what the IMF or the World Bank had said. If you wanted to improve the welfare of the teachers or any other civil servant you would have to get the go-ahead from these donors. We are proud today that whatever decisions we make, we make them on the basis of what we have. My prayer is that in the few coming years we will be able to attain 100 per cent economic self-sufficiency through our tax collection. While on this I must say that we have also seen some of our partners in development who have actually been helping our country and we really want to thank those who have really participated in the economic development of this country, be it in sanitation or maternal care and some of these other projects. But we must realise that any country that relies on donor support will never be able to develop. All over the world I have not come across any country that has been able to develop through donor support. Therefore, mine is to thank Kenyans and to hope that one day we will be able to outlaw donor support because donor support has been coming with conditionalities that more often than not have been detrimental to our country and our long-term image as a country. The President also mentioned that in the next election we will be getting to a new phase in the development of this country because we will be having the county governments. These county governments can be as good as the leadership that we put there. Therefore, I also want to agree with what was said by the other hon. Members, that we must put in place issues of integrity; we need to operationalize Chapter Six before we get to the elections, because if we do not do that we will transfer the same problems we have had at the national level to the county level. Therefore, the benefits that are supposed to accrue there will, obviously, not reach the ground."
}