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{
    "id": 381441,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/381441/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 272,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "This road was tarmacked by the NYS. Today, this stands to be one of the best roads. The reason for this is that when work was going on, there was no mathematics being done on how much a certain contractor would make. The young men and women did the work to completion. The money that was spent by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation during the Tenth Parliament to build dams was close to Kshs160 billion. One of these dams is in Kitui County while another one is in Machakos County. The two dams cost Kenyans who were seriously in need of water close to Kshs8 billion. If that money was given to the NYS and these young people commanded to build the dams, the Kshs8 billion would have done five water dams of the same size. However, the money that was put there is not commensurate to the work that was done for the Government of Kenya. We should put our priorities right and go back to our own cultural traditions. We should consider ourselves as Kenyans and not copyrights of foreign countries. What is happening in the UK, regarding those who are charged with decision- making is about to happen in this country. I want to give you an example of the Chinese Government and the jobs they have undertaken to do in this country. The Chinese Government has won contracts in this country on the basis of private companies. However, the actual fact is that those are not private companies. They are institutions owned by the Chinese Government. Due to the population of China, the people who are constructing roads in this country and doing other jobs related to the Chinese establishment are prisoners. They carry themselves as the Chinese. Since the population in China is very high, they have made a decision not to put these people in jail and feed them. They are brought to Kenya to work, generate money but the money is taken back to China. The same money is what we are loaned at a dismal rate of a percentage. We then start jumping and saying that the Chinese Government is very good, it is supporting us and that they are very kind. I support what other speakers have said; that further training is very important in creating jobs. The money we have set aside to construct our roads should be paid to our engineers. We have well educated Kenyans who are engineers. We do not even need to retrain these people for six, ten or 24 months to make them construct roads. We have graduates from the universities who are tarmacking. Some of them are hawking by selling newspapers or even milk on the streets of this country. All we need is proper planning. I am not ashamed to say that if I were to find myself at the realm of the leadership of this country, I would change it in two years. However, I am not campaigning. Our priorities have gone the wrong way. If you channeled the money that is supposed to be for road construction and infrastructure and passed it on to engineers through the NYS, this work would be done. We should say that from today onwards, all Government projects will be done by our young men who are at the NYS. I want to assure this House that if this were the case; in the next ten years, we would have done 80 per cent of our roads in this country. When you give a road to a private contractor, for instance, between Nairobi and Mombasa, the billions spent are enormous. I am speaking as a businessman. Before I put my ten shillings there, I must do my calculations to ensure that not only will I return my money but will have more after doing all the calculations. Once the contract is given to a The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}