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{
    "id": 394829,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/394829/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 219,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 440,
        "legal_name": "Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen",
        "slug": "kipchumba-murkomen"
    },
    "content": "This is just one road for a big town. I am told by those who know it much better than me, like Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo, who is a neighbour of Eldoret, that it was initially constructed as a road for a few white farmers for a small town at that time who owned several cars. But today, you cannot imagine the time spent between Barng’etuny Plaza and Central Bank branch in Eldoret. Somebody might leave Johannesburg by air and land in Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) while you are still queuing on Uganda Road. So, I think the time has come for us to stop the blame game of saying “this should have happened” and start offering solutions for our country; start saying “this is how it should be.” Madam Temporary Speaker, as I support this amendment, I want to reiterate that we want to look, not only at the traffic laws, but also the construction related law. I am aware that there is new legislation with regard to civil engineering in this country. That is why we have a National Construction Authority (NCA). We have fostered standadisation of our construction industry whether in civil works, roads, buildings or other matters. The more we move to a more intense standardising and requiring that these things be done, as a basis of approval of designs, the better we will be as a country. Otherwise, we will be coming here and praising foreign countries as some of us are used to. You praise every other country, except Kenya. In fact, I have heard Senators who have said that the fact that we do not have emergency lanes, we are not worth being called a country. Come on, has it come to that? The truth is that we have problems. However, the truth is that we also have solutions to those problems. Some of the solutions are futuristic while others are remedial, for the existing cases. I support this amendment and say that we should not focus on Nairobi. In any case, I also want to take the line of argument that was taken by my neighbour, the Senator for Meru County, Sen. Murungi who is informally referred to as the King of Meru. I will amend that and refer to him as the King of Meru County because the Ameru people come from both Tharaka-Nithi and Meru counties. In Tharaka-Nithi, I am the king. But I want to support the view that if we have a capital city out of Nairobi, the things we are thinking should happen in Nairobi should be applied to areas that may become capital cities in future. I am one of the lucky senators although this is a short-term disadvantage because my county does not have a headquarters. My people in the county refused all the existing urban centres and decided to start a new town. I said that for the short term, we would operate in not-so-good facilities. In fact, the county assembly for the last four months was meeting under a tent which I had donated. However, we have now set up some structures. We got some money and build some temporary structures. This is also an opportunity to plan and execute a well planned modern town. Watch this space because the headquarters of Tharaka-Nithi County will be a model town where best practices will be borrowed on urban and physical planning. With those few remarks, I support the amendment that we include other cities and towns in the Motion."
}