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{
    "id": 424885,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/424885/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 69,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kamanda",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 221,
        "legal_name": "Maina Kamanda",
        "slug": "maina-kamanda"
    },
    "content": "After going through all these documents and reports that I am going to table, we thought it is good, as a Committee, to also come up with recommendations. They are as follows:- (i) The Government should proceed with the process of implementing the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway Project due to the promising benefit that will accrue to the people of Kenya during the construction period and upon the completion of the project. (ii) The Government of Kenya should fast-track the signing of the financial agreement between Kenya and the Government of the People’s Republic of China to enable the commencement of that project. As of now, all those documents are now in China and we hope that, very soon, they are going to be forwarded to the Kenyan Government. That is why the Committee thought we need to tell the Government that, once those documents are here, we need them to be fast-tracked. (iii) The procurement process of an independent consultancy should be speeded up. We have even talked about the Kshs3 billion that will be used for consultancy and we want Kenya Railways to start that process. (iv) Negotiations for that railway project started over six years ago in 2008. The Committee is of the view that the negotiations for the Malaba-Nairobi line should start now. That is because if the other one started six years ago, we should start now so that, within two or three years, we can also fast-track the other railway line. I want to say this: First, I want to thank the leadership in this House, both the Leader of the Minority Party and Leader of the Majority Party. I also want to thank the Members here. I want to say that you gave the best when you nominated hon. Members to serve in this Committee. I want to say, as a Chair that, you gave the best. These are hon. Members of very high integrity. I worked with hon. Members from both sides. There was nothing like CORD or Jubilee. We worked together as a team for the interest of this country. The Report that I am about to table was signed by the entire membership of the Committee – that is 28 hon. Members. Finally, I also want to thank your Office. You have provided the leadership. The Office of the Clerk also gave us support, although they gave us one Clerk, Mr. Kalama. I want to thank him because he was working almost 24 hours. I know there is a shortage of staff but I want to say that he has done a good job. The other person that I want to thank with respect to the Standard Railway Gauge - and I cannot miss to mention this - is the former Prime Minister of this country. This is the man who, when we were doing the ground breaking, came to the airport and confirmed that, that project is not about this Government. It is a project that he started with former President hon. Mwai Kibaki and nobody should try to stop it. That is because it was a big problem that time and he would like to see that we are fast-tracking the project and moving on. On that note, I want to thank him because he is also a Kenyan who came out to give his views. I also want to thank my Committee. There was a lot of lobbying within Members here. I also want to thank the membership of the entire House. Most of them have been asking me about this matter and I have explained to them. Even the few ones who were very vocal, came to consult me too. In line with those consultations, I have been telling them: “This is about the country. This is about the development of this country. It is not 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."
}