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{
    "id": 419404,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/419404/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 98,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "March 18, 2014 SENATE DEBATES 10 Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when we adjourned I had just said that I was paying my compliments to our former able colleague, hon. Danson Mungatana, for having been appointed as the Chairperson of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA). I had pointed out that one hopes that hon. Mungatana will not walk the same old unhelpful route that was walked by his predecessors who thought that as soon as you are taken to that port, it was an opportunity for you to give jobs to your friends, relatives and people from your community. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I look forward to a situation whereby we are going to remember hon. Mungatana for having spearheaded the modernization of Mombasa Port. When I speak of modernization of this very important national resource, quickly in mind comes the issue of the quality of business that we are able to roll out at Mombasa Port. We have for all these years relied on the natural suitability of the Port of Mombasa in terms of receiving vessels. It is important that the new leadership at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) goes out of its way to ensure that funding is secured so that dredging can be done to attract bigger vessels and therefore bigger business for the Port of Mombasa. I hope and look forward, during the tenure of hon. Mungatana, to have a KPA which is efficient. The amount of inefficiency in this port is the reason why countries like Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda are starting to have second thoughts about using our port. I have in mind the issue of clearance. Clearance at the KPA takes unnecessarily long. After that when they go to Malaba border, again crossing to Uganda is another headache. I know the Chair comes from the western side of the country and he has been to Malaba. You will see trucks lined up for a distance of 13 or 15 kilometres long, and they take days and weeks to be cleared. The modern way of controlling that kind of port like the one we have in Mombasa is to do what we call “one-stop border post”: When the businessman arrives at the Port of Mombasa, he gets all the services that he is going to get on the Kenyan side and the Ugandan side from only one office. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in the tenure of hon. Mungatana, - and you will forgive me for repeating his name because this was a distinguished parliamentarian for the ten years that I worked with him. He fought corruption and I am hoping that the corruption that currently exists at the Port of Mombasa should be something of the past. I am making this statement on a day when His Excellency the President has just been launching the strategic plan of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). I am so disappointed that the security of the president locked me out of that office because I had just come from another meeting here and when I reached there, the President had just entered and they locked me out. How can a Senator be a threat to the security of the Head of State when he is launching the EACC strategic plan? Some of us have fought corruption in this country; look at the stories of Kimunya, stories of Prof. Ndung’u and so on. Now events coming in the later day are vindicating us. Therefore, I felt very hurt that the security of the President locked me out of this very important meeting. I am not a security threat to the President or any other member of the Executive. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I therefore want to join the President in his effort---"
}