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{
    "id": 282317,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/282317/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 222,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Affey",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 381,
        "legal_name": "Mohammed Abdi Affey",
        "slug": "mohammed-affey"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, I would like to talk about the issue of infrastructure, because I think I have a few more minutes left. I want to agree in great details with what the hon. Duale has just said. We expected by now, even though the parts of the country that were developed in terms of infrastructure are still important and they are part of the Kenyan territory--- But you can imagine that from Mandera to Nairobi is a distance of 1200 kilometres. Almost 45 years after independence--- It is a shame! I even asked at the beginning of our Session four years ago: Let us have a rotational Sitting of Parliament. That way, if this Parliament sat in Mandera and we debated--- There is a place in Mandera where there is a facility for debating. That way, even our leaders will appreciate the pain that people in Mandera, Garissa and Wajir are going through. You can imagine the spirit of threat that exists in the communities that live in that part of the country. We cannot transport our livestock. These days we even grow crops in Mandera. There is a lot of irrigation along Dawa River. But what does it help if we over-produce foodstuffs in Mandera for consumption in Kakamega, but we cannot deliver them in time? They get wasted in Mandera. There is no international airport in Mandera. At least, the one we have in Wajir has never been serviced for many years. They have even refused to upgrade it to an international status where the civilian population will have absolute control over it. That is why we are now happy that under the new Constitution each county will decide what to do. We will decide what to do with our airport in Wajir County Assembly. It is a facility that exists within Wajir County, but it is underutilized. It could have been used more for the betterment of the region and the country. That is part of the infrastructure we are talking about; the President’s proud legacy which, unfortunately, has been dented by the fact that northern Kenya, particularly Garissa, Wajir and Mandera, which are an integral part and a very important part of this country, there is not a single tarmac road! All these billions are being spent to construct roads in other parts of the country. Some friends of this country want to assist us build our roads. However, we cannot get a letter of comfort from the Kenya Government or Treasury. We cannot even get a letter of comfort to say that the Kenya Government will be able to chip in a certain amount of money even if the bulk of it will come from the friends of this country, particularly the Arab world who want to develop that part of the country."
}