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{
    "id": 902012,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/902012/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 252,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Pokot South, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. David Pkosing",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2662,
        "legal_name": "Losiakou David Pkosing",
        "slug": "losiakou-david-pkosing"
    },
    "content": " Hon. Speaker, the person who wanted to raise a point of order is on record opposing the amendment. So, he wants to oppose it. Let us be honest. On transport, I will tell you and the people of Kenya the problem we have in matatus and buses and hiking fares. If you are going to Kisumu, you pay fares which you might not even afford. If you are going to West Pokot, where I come from, you pay fares which you cannot afford. The Government cannot control those fares. The people of Kenya are at the mercy of what I may call cartels. They can increase the prices. If there is a strike, you find the prices going up. If schools open, the prices go up. Where will Government come in to control? We do not have buses and, therefore, we have no benchmark or standard. We cannot tell the people of Kenya, “do not pay more than Kshs2,000 if you are going to Pokot”. How will the Government say like that and yet it does not have a bus to ferry people to Pokot? Governments in some successful jurisdictions in the world have buses. I schooled in London. I was trained in UK. In that country, the government has transport. Therefore, as you plan to travel, you choose whether to use a private car or a government car. It is cheaper in those countries. When you are above 60 years or 65 years old, you travel for free. You are given a card. So, you go to a government bus terminus and you travel to your destination for free. In this country, everything is in the hands of the private sector. That is why the idea of the amendment of the Merchant Shipping Act is very good. It will enable the Government of Kenya to own ships. Hon. Members are aware of what we are doing with Kenya Airways. We want to help our own carrier. We do not want to look like we are a second-hand country. We want to be a first-hand country as the Republic of Kenya. That is the spirit that led to the revival of the Kenya Shipping Line. The amendment might not be aligned to the talk that I am giving to Hon. Members. That is why I am pleading with them this afternoon. I am pleading with the country to listen to me. Rejecting this amendment means that we are telling the Government not to buy a ship. Is that the idea of these Hon. Members? No, it is how the amendment has been crafted. Everybody wants to have a ship but the amendment has not been crafted properly. That is why I assure Members that we will do public participation on this Bill. We are calling Hon. Members from the coast region, who have opposed this amendment probably because they do not understand its implications or we do not understand the issues they are raising to support it. When they come to the Committee, we can discuss with them and see if all of us will agree that the Government of Kenya must own a ship. They will then tell us the route to follow for us to own a ship. It is not debatable that the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}