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{
    "id": 707231,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/707231/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 220,
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    "content": "B, and others such as H and J are national trunk roads while D, E and below are county roads. There was also an issue of who does what. It was a case of county governments going to court because the Kenya National Highways Authority ( KeNHA) had put an advert concerning management of road reserves and it was very clear that some functions on any road--- Because they went to court and there is a court ruling to the effect that when it comes to street lighting, outdoor advertising and parking, even if it is a national trunk road within a county, it is the responsibility of the county government. So, it was very clear. So, we got the stakeholders together to discuss how to move forward in the sector. One of the issues was the classification of roads because you will find that when the TA gazettes roads, a county government has issues because what is gazetted is a new classification. It was not what used to exist when the new Constitution was passed. That is an issue which we had to discuss and the Kenya Roads Board gave us a history of how that classification was done. It was a process which started way back in 2006. They were just giving us a new classification which I think is being introduced because by the time the Constitution was being passed, that classification was not in use. Right now, the new classification of roads is in place. The issue of roads is contentious because in that forum, the stakeholders felt that The Kenya Roads Bill (National Assembly Bill No.26 of 2015)is being delayed unnecessarily and this could have sorted some of the issues. I do not want to pre-empt any debate because The Kenya Roads Bill (National Assembly Bill No.26 of 2015) is with the Committee and it is ready for tabling. That is why it was listed on today’s Order Paper. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the roads sector is very important in this country and the players have to take it seriously. The national Government has to take into account that for Kenya to develop because we talk of the Vision 2030, this is one sector which has to be taken seriously because right now, more than 80 or 90 per cent of goods and persons are carried on our roads. One may wonder why a road like from Nairobi to Mombasa is still a single carriage 50 years down the line. We always have hold ups on that road. A vehicle will take eight hours from Nairobi to Mombasa, a distance of less than 500 kilometres. This country has never seen it as an urgent issue to widen that road to have a dual carriage so that we can move goods and persons from the Port of Mombasa which is not only used by Kenyans but also by our neighbours in the East African region. That is why our neighbours like Uganda and Rwanda who have been using the port are now moving to Tanzania. They are now opening up routes to use the Tanzanian ports because we did not open up the road. We also have another road which leads us to our neighbour Uganda. We know that Uganda is our most important trading partner but look at the road to Uganda, it is a nightmare to move from here to Nakuru because 50 years down the line, we have not seen where our priorities are. That is the road from Mombasa-Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret to Uganda. If we are seriously targeting that market, we should have made it a dual carriage a long time but we have not done that. That shows we do not have our priories right. We talk about the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). We should have widen that road all the way from Mombasa to Malaba using less amount than the cost of doing the 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"
}