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{
    "id": 292886,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/292886/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 507,
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    "content": "Kshs500,000, the value of a car, and only on PSVs, this is biased. This is going to create a very good short-cut for an officer to demand a bribe of Kshs10,000 and get away with it. Will we have sorted out our problems? It is good for us to also set realistic fines, not very low, but also not very high. When they are very high, they will be a very fertile ground for breeding corruption. While on the issue of the fines, some of them are realistic, but I want to state very clearly some of the issues hon. Midiwo commented about. We will introduce amendments in terms of a schedule of fines as proposed by the sector. They are also concerned. They do not want impunity on our roads. There is no single PSV owner who does not agonize when he hears that his vehicle has been grounded in a police station either because of an accident or it has rolled. He is left with a loan to repay, the driver is maimed and maybe the conductor was a relative. Most of these workers at times are related to the vehicle owner or it is the owner who is admitted in hospital. Nobody can celebrate over that. So, it is very important for us to also realize that we need to put in place an amendment that will take care of a standard procedure of how we can come up with fines as it was proposed in the 2009 Budget, namely, instant ticketing. We would want to see that incorporated in the Bill. The issue of the Traffic Police officers reporting to the Traffic Commandant or the Police Commissioner, I think something should be done. We have the Railways Police under the Kenya Railways which has a lot of connection with the Ministry of Transport. We also have the Airport Police. We also should have the Traffic Police not reporting to the police departments, but to the Minister or to the Permanent Secretary in charge of transport, so that when they formulate policies, they can enforce them when there is a clear connection. It should not be a question of the Traffic Department being completely delinked from the Ministry of Transport yet the Ministry is expected to come up with the policies and rules to be enforced by the police. It is also important for us to appreciate the fact that there should also be a link between the traffic police, the local authorities and the Ministry of Transport. Without that, whatever you are trying to achieve will come to nought. The late Minister, hon. Michuki, had come up with very good proposals, but they were abused. They were abused because when he was doing it at the Ministry of Transport, the Police Department was not involved. When he went to the Ministry of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security, the Ministry of Transport was left out. When the local authorities were expected to implement what he was proposing, they felt that they had been left out. I even remember hon. Kombo was complaining that he had been left out."
}