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{
    "id": 407612,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/407612/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 211,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "I was on the process of looking at various Acts that have been proposed for amendments. I started and I went to the Air Passengers Charge Act which is proposed for amendment on the apportionment of the service charge collected for external journeys between the Kenya Airports Authority and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. In my view, this Act needs a comprehensive amendment because, as far as I am concerned, this is a reality worldwide. Airport authorities are actually nothing but facilities managers. But in Kenya today, we have a situation where the Kenya Airports Authority is actually having more clout than the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, which is the regulator. This is wrong because aviation safety is actually the docket of the regulator, not the facilities manager. The facilities manager may play a small role, but it is not their key function. Their key function is to look at how clean the airport is; make sure there is power, water and the passengers are comfortable at the airport. But when it comes to the aviation safety, this is the docket of the regulator, which is the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, in this country we have a bulk of landing fees which is collected by the Kenya Airports Authority. Landing is not an event, but a process. But we tend to equate landing with the time when the aircraft hits the tarmac; that is just an event. It is a process largely controlled by the instruments of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. If those instruments were to go down, I can tell you, there will be no landing in this country. In my view, this Air Passenger Service Charge Act needs to be comprehensively reviewed because the suggested minor amendments here are not enough. Similarly, the proposal in the Kenya Airports Authority Act, Chapter 395, to increase the number of independent board members--- What are we trying to do here; are we trying to entrench cronyism? Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, we have seen in boards of corporate bodies in this country where the oversupply of board members only leads to entrenchment or micro-management by board members who find themselves idle. It was explained yesterday when the Leader of Majority Party was moving, that the reason is to have sub- committees. But why can we not let the senior managers be the ones to run these sub- committees? So, I am also opposed to that one. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I have to agree that the proposed amendment to the Postal Corporation Act is good as it bestows the corporation’s temporary assignments that are necessary for it to survive. We know, for example, these days selling stamps alone and posting letters cannot make you survive. We have discussed this matter with the postal corporation as a Committee and, I think, this proposed amendment is right. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}