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{
    "id": 603326,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/603326/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 205,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": "need to come up with a commonsense Bill; all these things that we have written here are purely commonsense things for those of us who are travelled. If you look at Namibia, some things are simple; just by separating estates by colours you have aesthetics. When we went to Botswana, in one of the places the ground was prepared very nicely. So we wondered what was going on there. They said they were just about to put up buildings. We asked what they were for. They told us it was for a road, a line for electricity, water, and a sewer. What about Kenya? You build and then you look for the road in between houses. That is why I am saying we need to come up with a Bill on common sense; there are laws but we just do not give them due regard once they are passed. The other thing that I find very worrisome is the way we have classified our economy. We are a very small economy but we want to classify ourselves higher maybe for purposes of public relations. When I drive from my House to Parliament, I notice we are a country that is powered by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). If you look at every roadside that you pass whether it is in town or outside, there are people hawking, selling second-hand clothes and they want to sell them in every available space. If you allow them here in Parliament, they would be hawking clothes outside here, which is a good thing because that is our economy. But why do we not plan in a manner that takes into account what Kenya is? Every day you see askaris chasing people around. Where do you expect them to go? That is what this country is. The majority of Kenyans are in the category of SMEs, yet we want them to go and occupy big shops. We are planning for big shops instead of small kiosks. What I would encourage - and that is why I want a stronger link between the county governments and the national Government - is that we must plan in a manner that takes into account that we have people trading in SMEs. In terms of our own culture, Kenyans like buying on the roadside, yet we are building very huge markets that nobody goes to. Why do we not build small kiosks by the roadsides which are smart, so that even when you pass you are not looking like you are passing through a slum? In that way we would be facilitating people all over. Even in big cities in Italy and other countries, they allow people to hawk but in an organised manner. In some places, it is by building very nice kiosks. But because of our culture also, if you look at outside Nairobi Hospital, when the City Council decided to put up very good structures for Kenyans, we must always make sure we add another polythene paper behind it. So, it is still the culture that I am talking about but we must take this country seriously if we want to compete with Rwanda and Botswana. The place of pride that we have always held as a country is lost. It is not that it is getting lost. I hear people saying it is getting lost. We have lost to Rwanda and Botswana. If we continue this way and with the focussed President that I have seen in Tanzania, we will lose to it. From the way I am seeing our neighbour Uganda, we are encouraged that we have at least one that is doing worse than us. Some of the issues that need to be included here is population growth. It is not included in this Bill but we must factor in population growth. Most of our small cities and towns are growing pretty fast but our planning systems are not moving equally fast. If I give you the example of my own small town in Mbita called “Mbita Point”, it has a huge population but what is there? Last week I was talking to the local Minister for Planning, Madam Beatrice, and I was telling her Mbita looks like some chaotic town. It reminds me of a rough drawing of an amoeba, if you see the way it is growing. Mbita is just an example. All our towns are growing in that way. We must arrest the way these towns are growing. I remember one of the committees said they visited Victoria Falls 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."
}