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{
    "id": 813319,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/813319/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 63,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I posted on my Facebook wall and Twitter that I believe that in my lifetime and in not so many years to come, this country will play in the World Cup. I saw the level of pessimism and disbelief. We have played in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). We just need to be there punctually. That is why I am saying that we must return the faith and belief in our nation, whether in our road contractors or sportsmen. If we do not believe in ourselves, why is it that we have conquered the world in athletics for over 50 years? We can replicate that elsewhere. Why are we conquering the world in Rugby Sevens? Why did Mr. Wangila win an Olympic medal in boxing? Those examples can lead us to say that we can do things well for ourselves and be world conquerors. That is, if we have good road contractors whom we will invest in and they will have the right values and ethos and that we will be facilitating them to do what they need to do. The other concept in the roads contracts that we must discuss is; even though we give a contractor like the one who built the Thika Superhighway over Kshs30 billion to build it – or the Southern Bypass or the road that goes to Kisumu or Dongo Kundu, which I do not believe was Kshs11 billion as they said, we will have to see the facts – we must also ensure that they adhere to the requirements of the law as it is at the moment, that they must sub-contract work of certain amount to local contractors. That is the role of the Ministry to follow up. We do not want a situation where a foreigner comes and registers a company locally and then he is called a local contractor. As a House, I think we need to amend that law and say that a certain percentage of the money must be given to a contractor that is local and whose 70 per cent of the company is owned by Kenyan citizens. That way, we will become so clear because a local contractor can be a foreigner who has registered a local company. That opportunity again will come for us to build infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I persuade hon. Members that this Bill is very good as it is, but we can make it excellent. If we want to make it so, we can sit and incorporate the views of each one of us. As I said, the main concern that Members have was on classification and on the division of those resources being shared to the various entities. Before we go to the Committee Stage, we must sit down and agree that these are the issues. We must also listen to the Council of Governors (CoG) and the report of the Committee. I have read that Report and to a great extent, it had concurrence from the CoG except that they wanted the percentage to reach 20 per cent. They are the users and we must listen to them. We have our position as the Senate but we must also listen to the views that come from the CoG and the negotiated positions that happened in the Summit. I was invited in the last Summit and I said this; if the Summit wants us to take their report seriously, they must not only just pass resolutions, but they must also be transmitted to this House so that we can debate and record them for purposes of oversight and guarantee implementation. This Bill is important for Vision 2030 of this country. Good roads are good for development. It is also important for the Big Four Agenda in terms of spurring matters related to infrastructure towards industrialisation and job creation. Like Sen. Wetangula said, it is also important that roads are distributed equitably across the country so that it is not linked to where the President or Cabinet Secretary (CS) comes from but to what benefits it can give to Kenyans, equitably, as equal shareholders in Kenya. 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."
}