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{
    "id": 394794,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/394794/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 184,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Murungi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 93,
        "legal_name": "Kiraitu Murungi",
        "slug": "kiraitu-murungi"
    },
    "content": "I also want to agree with my colleagues who have spoken before me that we are facing a major traffic problem in Nairobi and other county capitals. It is virtually impossible for us to even come to the Senate. It is taking us two and a half hours to drive from Karen to the city centre. It also takes us the same time to go back home. So, five hours in a working day out of eight hours is spent on the road. It is not only here in Nairobi, but in my own county in Meru it takes two hours to move for one kilometre from Nakumatt Supermarket to Makutano in Meru. I believe it is the same in Eldoret and other cities. So, this is a very urgent and important matter. I am happy that Sen. Karaba has brought it before this House. Madam Temporary Speaker, Sir, the important question for us, as a Senate, is to ask ourselves why there is all this chaos. Why are the ambulances not moving? Why are fire-fighting engines not moving? It is very easy to blame the fire-fighters like the way we usually do when they arrive late, but nobody goes to investigate or to ask them why they came late. Maybe they were held up in traffic somewhere or maybe it was impossible for them to reach where the fire is because of congestion or poor roads. It is time that we addressed that particular problem of poor planning. Madam Temporary Speaker, we have been to other countries, like I was recently in London and I took a train. We were very many in the train. One of the things we need to do in this country is to introduce an efficient public transport system. We do not have to do underground trains because those are very expensive and you know how our economy is, but there is no reason we cannot have trams and over-ground trains because they ferry many people. We are also saying that time has come for us to think beyond roads. There is no reason we should not have a train taking people to Thika, Machakos, Meru and Isiolo. Time has come for us to reduce the number of vehicles on our roads by improving the railway system in the country. What we have here was built by the colonialists who did not have as much money as we have. So, we do not understand why we cannot lay more railway lines across the country. So, poor planning is one of the major challenges and the major cause of the traffic chaos that we see in this country. Madam Temporary Speaker, another issue is poor discipline. We used to call it a"
}