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"id": 294662,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/294662/?format=api",
"text_counter": 325,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kinyanjui",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Roads",
"speaker": {
"id": 48,
"legal_name": "Lee Maiyani Kinyanjui",
"slug": "lee-kinyanjui"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for the opportunity to contribute to this Bill. From the onset, let me say that I oppose it and I will be able to give the reasons as we move forward. However, I also want to agree that, indeed, we have had serious challenges on the roads because if you look at the road carnage in the last few years and the sort of accidents that we have had, it is, indeed, worrying. A visit to our Spinal Injuries Hospital here in Nairobi will reveal that the sort of devastation we get when these accidents occur is unbelievable. We also incur losses because most of the people who are also involved are within the economically productive age group. That cannot be underscored and, therefore, we need to look at how we can be able to ensure that we tame these drivers. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, having said that, it is important that we also come up with ways that are consistent and practical and which will ensure that we have reduced accidents and probably, if possible, to eliminate them. I also want to appreciate that at this stage, we have had many Bills that have come before this House that have had great promises to this country towards changing certain sectors, but even having been enacted, little has been seen. I am afraid that this is one such Bill because it does not address the core issues within the road traffic accident arena. Allow me also to suggest that one of the areas that really require revision is the area of training of drivers in this country. It only takes about 22 hours for you to train a Kenyan driver and the unfortunate part is that all the traffic signs that they are shown when they go to driving schools are forgotten when they go to the roads. They do not see these road signs. So, as we teach them the nearly 40 road signs, I want you to have a look at the roads and you will appreciate that those road signs do not exist. Therefore, we need to ensure that as we train our drivers, it is not just for purposes of training but it is for purposes of ensuring that when they get to the roads, they do the correct thing. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister for Finance, because in his Budget Speech last week, he imposed very heavy penalties on people who are trading in scrap metal and this is one area that has been a big problem in the area of road safety. This is because you find a road sign that clearly indicates the speed limit or that there are bumps ahead or a school ahead and somebody comes and takes it to go and make sufurias or to sell as scrap metal. So, the Kshs1 million penalty or three months jail term, I believe, if properly enforced, will ensure that we have proper use of our road signs and that everybody will ensure that they use those road signs. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue is that we have also had accidents because of congestion on our roads. Recently we completed Thika Road but before it was completed, at the time construction commenced, traffic on that road was about 150,000 vehicles per day but today it is approaching 200,000 vehicles. So, the more roads we built, the more vehicles we have on the roads. Therefore, we believe that to be able to address the issue of congestion on our roads, we must be able to address the issue of public transport. In many countries, trains will ensure that congestion is reduced on roads. Proper bus transport or the mass transit system as has been seen in many other countries will ensure that we reduce these many vehicles and, therefore, reduce the wear and tear on our roads. It should also be noted that in most countries, the ratio of cargo that is ferried from the port to the destination is about 95 per cent by rail and only about 5 per cent by road. Unfortunately, because the railway is not operational in this country, we have a situation whereby about 80 per cent of our cargo goes through our roads and, therefore, our roads are permanently overloaded and overused and, therefore, their lives tend to be short. This in return means that even the repair and management of this road infrastructure will always be a problem. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue that has been of great concern to us is the lenient sentences to offenders and especially to drivers of public buses. You will come across an accident where a driver was careless, reckless and probably drunk while driving a bus and it has been involved in an accident and probably 20 or 30 people have died. If you follow up most of these cases, the driver is only charged with what is called reckless driving and in most cases the fines are only Kshs5, 000, Kshs3, 000 or Kshs10, 000. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, these penalties are not deterrent enough to ensure that drivers do not commit the crimes. Therefore, we must clearly look into ways of enforcing greater deterrents to ensure that drivers do not continue flouting the law. It must also be noted that even when a driver has been involved in a grisly accident, there is no system of ensuring that such a driver will not be on the road the next day. So, a driver can be involved in a serious accident today and move on to another company and continue doing the same things. So, we have notorious drivers who continuously cause chaos on our roads, and there is nothing we can do about it. I am happy that the Ministry intends to introduce an electronic driving licence, which will clearly indicate the kind of offences that a driver has committed over time, and which will ensure that if such a driver causes accidents beyond a certain point, he is barred from driving. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, allow me to also say that if we are to address the issue of accidents in this country, we must embrace the use of technology to ensure that speed limits are adhered to. You find that whenever police officers go to the road with speed guns to try and enforce adherence to speed limits, we see a remarkable reduction in the number of accidents on the sections of the roads that are covered. Unfortunately, drivers of matatu and buses plying that route inform every motorist going in the opposite direction to slow down because the speed enforcement team is ahead. As soon as motorists pass that speed enforcement team, they increase their speed to 120 KPH or 150 KPH or 200 KPH. So, again, we fall into the same problem. Therefore, we need to embrace technology, so that we can have cameras across all our main highways to capture on camera anybody who will be over-speeding, so that such evidence can be used in court to ensure that offenders are properly prosecuted. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you can have a problem occurring on a certain section of a road. An accident may have happened or a vehicle may have stalled on the road. Sometimes our drivers are not very careful. So, they may not properly place the hazard sign to forewarn other motorists that such a problem has occurred. So, other motorists approach such a scene fast and, consequently, we have multiple accidents at that particular point. What I would advocate is that, in future, we should have more police patrols on such particular sections to ensure that whenever there is a problem, we respond in good time, and that we do not have accidents as a result. Thika Road is a good example. When a vehicle stalls and blocks one lane of the highway, you have a lot of cumulative traffic coming. So, this is a matter that should be looked into. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, lastly, allow me to say that in this particular Bill, there is a proposal to abolish the Traffic Police Department. It is characteristic of us, Kenyans, that whenever there is a problem, instead of addressing it, we sack the coach. In this case, we would rather go for the Traffic Police Department yet the issues are bigger than the Traffic Department. So, I hope that as we go into this matter, we will be able to address the real issues and give Kenyans a real opportunity to drive on the roads safely. As it has been said here in the past, when you drive on our roads, you are at a higher risk of dying than even dying of certain diseases or any other thing. Therefore, we need to make our roads safer through proper legislations that appreciate the diversity of this particular challenge. Thank you."
}