Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 394831,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/394831/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 221,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Murungi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 93,
        "legal_name": "Kiraitu Murungi",
        "slug": "kiraitu-murungi"
    },
    "content": "counties of this country. We should ask ourselves what we are devolving. Are we devolving traffic jams to our counties? Are we devolving poor planning to our counties? That is why the amendment is important and I want to thank Sen. (Prof.) Lonyangapuo whose name, I understand, means in Pokot, a very beautiful bull, for bringing this beautiful amendment. As I had mentioned earlier, we are experiencing traffic chaos in Meru County and, indeed, other examples have been given about the country. The amendment should resolve that. I remember the major frustrations that foreigners visiting the country are facing. One time, I spend a whole evening with the Minister for Environment in France and the only thing she talked about is how she spent about six hours to move from the airport to a United Nations Environmental Progarmme (UNEP) meeting in Gigiri. As I was telling her how we had discovered oil, how Kenya is at the door of opportunities and how we should get more French investors and tourists coming into the country, she was saying that we should solve that problem first. We cannot be spending six hours on the roads. So, even as we talk about opportunities in the counties, the oil in Turkana, coal in Kitui and minerals in Kwale, unless we resolve transport problems, those things will not happen. This is critical, urgent, but what we are talking about in Nairobi also happens at the county level. Before my time expires, I was saying that one way of resolving this problem in Nairobi is to relocate the capital city to another county. We can move it to a neigbouring county like Kajiado County which is next to us here. We can also move to Kitengela and plan a beautiful capital city there. We can also move to Thika or Machakos where the original capital city was. So, we can move Government from Nairobi and leave Nairobi to be a commercial centre. People seeking Government services should be moved to the other county. That would move traffic and that is another way of developing infrastructure and attracting business. That is a way of diversifying business from the capital city. You have seen what happens in the US. New York is still the largest city. However, it is a commercial centre. The only politics you will find there are the UN politics. Washington DC is the administrative capital city and that is where the Government is. We can borrow what happened in Nigeria. Lagos was impassable and people were being caned on the streets. However, they moved to Abuja which is another State. This one is well planned and there are no traffic jams. We are asking for something like that. We should do the same in Nairobi. I was impressed by what my neighhbour, Senator for Tharaka-Nithi, Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki Kithure said. He correctly referred me to as the King of Meru. However, I know my boundaries. I have not claimed to be the King of Tharaka-Nithi or the King of Chuka, for that matter. I am the King of Meru. When an appropriate ceremony is held in Tharaka-Nithi to crown Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki as the King of Tharaka-Nithi, I will be there. If he wants some bulls, we can talk to our friend, the Professor, to donate some from Pokot for that important ceremony. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}