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"content": "that photograph to the police. Already, we are using rudimentary ICT methods for security purposes. Mr. Speaker, Sir, you will remember that in the previous government, there was talk of Nairobi being connected by fibre and a security system being put in place. We are aware this is an issue being debated all over with court cases upon court cases. There is a waste of time when we know that Kenyans are under threat. Therefore, when we talk about connection of fibre, we are not just talking about connection of the fibre cable as an end in itself. We are talking about fibre connectivity as a means to an end. That end includes the facilities that we will create in our schools and so on. There is no better way of equalizing our society than the way we can use technology. If we connect a school in Marsabit County, for example, to the fibre optic cable, it will be exactly the same as a school somewhere in Nairobi County, no matter how nice the school is. If we connect the same to Kwale County, it will be equal to a school connected to fibre in Nyeri County. Therefore, considering that the role of the Senate is to try and equate counties as much as possible, then it behooves us to ensure that this project is completed. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are aware that hospital facilities in most parts of our nation leave a lot to be desired. We are also aware that if we connect fibre to those hospitals, it will be possible for a doctor at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) to assist in the operation of a patient at a Garissa hospital, if they are connected to the fibre via video conferencing. It is possible for a doctor to operate a child in Turkana County through receiving instructions from John Hopkins University Hospital in the United States of America (USA). This is no longer a luxury for us but a necessity. This is the only way that we can give advantage to far-flung areas long before we get road infrastructure there. Sometimes, long before we get water in some of those places, we can get them healthcare that is equal to any all over the world using this fibre network cable. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I mentioned earlier, I had the privilege of serving as Minister and launching the first international cable in Kenya, TEAMS. Since then, Kenya has developed other cables, including SEACOM. The capacity that we have at the Port in Mombasa is huge. It can serve this country and this part of the world, including the other countries that are in the hinterland of Africa. But there is no need to pass the fibre through Mombasa all the way to Rwanda and Uganda. They took advantage of the fibre connectivity better than us because they are now connecting their towns, schools and hospitals. It is up to us to ensure that is also done in Kenya. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have been talking about Konza, the ICT city, that we want to come up with in Machakos County. As you can see, the uptake is very slow. The champions of such a project need to be identified and asked to push for those projects. But one Konza City is not enough for Kenya. In India, they once had one area that had fibre cable. What that meant is that eventually the area became very expensive. We need a Konza City in Machakos County and another such city in other counties such as Nyeri and Kisumu, so that we can create and spread ICT jobs across the country. We will also be able to contain the rising costs that may arise as a result of centralizing an ICT city in only one area. That is what will happen if we connect fibre to all counties. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the other good and great advantage of technology is that it will stifle rural-urban migration. There are people who say that in certain parts of this country, 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."
}