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{
    "id": 811447,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/811447/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 232,
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    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, secondly, I do not understand the obsession with creating multiplicity of boards to merely distribute money for construction of roads. I thought the intention was to create one entity that can divide money to be used to build roads in our urban centres, rural areas and from one city to the other. What we have here is a Bill that wants to create three boards and in every one of them you will find the same representation. How will the Permanent Secretary (PS), who has been provided to be the chair, sit in three different boards all at the same time? This is retrogressive. We had moved from an era where the Government was to have full control on the management of boards to manage our roads. Madam Temporary Speaker, when I was the Chair of the Law Society of Kenya in 2007, when the Kenya National Roads Act that created the KeNHA was passed, we pushed that the LSK should have representation, so that the Government can also have a feel from those who come from the private sector. The person who was elected by the lawyers in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in March, 2007, Ms. Anna Mureithi; she was picked by the then President Mwai Kibaki to be the Chair of the first KeNHA Board. It is that lady who oversaw the construction of Thika Highway. She is a woman of integrity. I saw the other day that she has now been appointed to chair the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) Board. So, it is not the case that if you want to have an effective board, you must have engineers. That is retrogressive. Madam Temporary Speaker, I will give two examples. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which is a critical body that interviews and picks candidates for the position of Chief Justice, Supreme Court Judges, Court of Appeal Judges, High Court Judges and magistrates, has members who are not lawyers. Some of the people who interviewed members to be appointed as Chief Justice and Supreme Court Judges were not judges or lawyers. In fact, the public picks people who know nothing about law to sit in the JSC. So, what is the obsession in this Bill that only engineers can sit in the board? Why do we have to leave out lawyers from sitting in this board, yet they have vindicated themselves? They have effectively served in these boards before. Madam Temporary Speaker, the United Kingdom (UK) has moved away from the culture of saying that only the Government or people who are qualified in a particular field can sit in particular boards. The person who chairs the board that interviews judges in UK is not a lawyer, yet that country has made great strides in the legal field. So, I do not see the logic, merit or justification why a key body like LSK should be removed from representation in these bloated three boards. There should only be one body. If we want to create a progressive board, we should make provision for representation from the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA). They are the people who use our roads day in, day out. They are widely travelled and will give us the perspective from international best practices. We cannot keep engineers only. We need to bring people from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) to give us a perspective. They will be able to explain the pains they are going through as manufacturers. The people who discipline lawyers in the disciplinary committee of the LSK are not lawyers themselves. The public has two slots in the Advocate’s Disciplinary 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."
}