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{
    "id": 699487,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/699487/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 224,
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    "content": "That is why Members of this House rush almost en masse to their counties. They want to go and run for governorships because people can clearly see governors sitting with them and the projects they are doing without minding that the resources for doing so are passed by this House because of the lack of the understanding and impatience of even legislators to allow the idea to be understood by the society. That is why many Senators and other people desire to become governors. We feel that it is very important and this Report indicates so, that there is need for civic education across the country. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we also recommend that the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) engages the Kenya Power so that the Kenya Power can also begin to roll out fiber optic cables along their power lines to create redundancies for the fiber that exist underground. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when we went to Bomet, we found that there is redundancy of underground fiber because of people digging and rains and so on. Therefore, we request the ICT Authority to engage the Kenya Power, so that the Kenya Power can run similar fiber optic cables. When a cable running alongside a power lines has a problem, people can use the underground one, and when the underground ones have issues, then we can use the power cables. In other words, one will serve as a substitute of the other. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in terms of revenue allocation, we felt very strongly that a minimum of 5 per cent of the monies allocated to counties should be reserved for ICT work. We have come from an ICT benchmarking trip in Japan with my colleagues of the Committee on Information and Technology. I am sure they will discuss this when they get an opportunity to contribute. What we saw in those countries and what we have in this country is such that if we are not careful, we, as a country, and Africa as whole, we will once again be relegated to nothingness. We were surprised about the seriousness with which those governments give the area of ICT. The Government of Japan is very committed to matters of ICT. Those are countries that are already developed by far. They are already 200 or 300 years ahead of us. If they go ahead and implement ICT in the manner in which we witnessed and we do it at the pace and speed and the ignorance with which we are implementing ours, those countries will be 600 or 700 years ahead of us. This is not a joke. It is something that countries must look at very seriously. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when we went to Rwanda, we were impressed with what the Rwandese Government has been trying to do. In Rwanda, the Minister for ICT is the President himself because of the seriousness with which they are looking at this issue. In Japan, in 2020, a person will be able to stand in front of a mirror in the morning as he or she dresses up and the mirror would tell their blood pressure (BP), their cholesterol level and any sort of medical issues they have. Today, you have to go to Nairobi Hospital and spend three weeks to get that kind of information. While we were in Japan, Sen. Cheruiyot was told his BP, heartbeat rate and everything when he stood in front of the mirror. This is where and how far the world has gone yet we are still toiling around on whether we should have a paperless Senate or not. The world has moved on regarding matters of ICT. Therefore, it is time for us to think. 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"
}