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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am a bit emotional because we cannot just stand here year after year, day after day, and month after month, to speak about these things and scooping lifeless bodies of young children from our roads and nothing seems to be done. We have close to 4,000 deaths on our roads every year. This is a report from disaster organizations and Government agencies that are mandated to handle issues of disasters. Trauma centres need to be built on blackspots and hotspots that have become killer spots on our country, for example, along Mombasa Road and Nakuru-Eldoret Road, especially Salgaa area. However, nobody seems to do anything about these things. Bringing culprits to book is okay, but we need to find a more lasting solution to the whole issue of killer roads. It is a pity that the poor people suffer most. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is a sad situation. Our systems are broken. We have policemen on the road, but they are not doing their work. We have teachers that have orders, but they do not enforce them. I wonder what our obligation as leaders in protecting our children is. We are facing broken systems; be it in education, health and security. Who would make our people account for their actions? What is the role of this House in this matter and others? Mr. Speaker, Sir, as a mother, I feel very emotional. We have lost children on the roads before, but it should not happen in this age when we are looking at taming corruption and fixing our systems. Is it a smokescreen where we want to just talk so that we get votes, or do we seriously want to take the obligation to protect our children when they travel on these roads? Is it lack of goodwill, resources or what is the problem? We will scoop these dead bodies, then come back and sit here. Again, stand in silence and mourn them. Something must be done and more sustainable solutions must be sought. It is the obligation of leadership, especially of this House which is showing the direction for this country to do something. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I hope that you will direct some sort of inquiry or commit some of these things to the Committees of this Senate which have of late have done good job to make our people to account for their actions. We need to move beyond just mourning and scooping the lifeless bodies of our children to taking action and obligation of leadership to protect those that are dependent on us. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I know we have many problems, but we need to make sure that we do not mourn or offer condolences on our behalf, our families and our constituents. We must take this issue seriously and find out what this House can do in addition to some of the things that Sen. Wambua has requested we do. We need to look at sustainable ways in which this House will exercise its representation, oversight role and its moral and political responsibility to deal with this, once and for all. I thank you for the opportunity. Once again, I reiterate my own condolences to the families and pray for the quick recovery of the children that are in hospital. I also know that they are, probably, not getting the best services that they can. Out of this, some children at an early stage will be maimed and their lives altered for the rest of their lives. Is this the kind of situation we, as leaders, want to preside over? We need to rise up to the occasion when the obligation and responsibility of leadership rest with us to ensure that this does not happen again. 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."
}