Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 912742,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/912742/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 102,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba South, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Mbadi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 110,
        "legal_name": "John Mbadi Ng'ong'o",
        "slug": "john-mbadi"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Motion. I am concerned that the Mover of the Motion that I consider to be important for the safety of our people and, to a large extent, that is going to protect our children who will be educated on matters safety, did not do justice to it by only reading its terms. He did not take time to persuade the House to support the Motion. Even though the Motion is self-explanatory at times it is important for the Mover to put across the points so that Members can get persuaded and swayed to support the Motion. That is the essence of moving a Motion. Having said that, it is not in doubt that our country is facing a crisis in the transport sector. It is a crisis that is caused by people who blatantly flout rules and regulations. People who are supposed to implement rules are also involved in bribe-taking and are compromised to a large extent. This country does not lack laws, rules and regulations. The only thing is that those who are charged with the responsibility of implementing and effecting them are not doing their work properly. The aim of this Motion is to take the debate from actual implementation to sensitising and educating the populace of the country to understand and appreciate the importance of rules and safety on our roads. We are all aware of the problems that we face on our roads, starting from what we now call boda bodas. You will find four school-going children being carried without helmets on a motorcycle that is driven at high speed. This is posing serious danger to, not only those children, but to other road users. Therefore, it is important that we start from early stages of life to educate our children on the importance of road safety, so that they can grow up knowing what they need to do. In that case, they will grow up cultured in a manner that they would avoid risky ventures that will expose their lives to danger. More importantly, they will not partake to those risky ventures and will avoid compromising the law enforcement officers. So, it is important that a curriculum is developed in our schools where training on road safety is made mandatory even if it will not be examinable. I can remember when we started schooling in the early years – and I know it may not be early to some Members in this House but to some it was too early – we used to have morning devotions in schools. There was a compulsory Christian lesson in our schools. That needs to be done. I do not know whether it is still there in our schools. We used to have a day in a week when we read the Bible and appreciated the Creator. We need to have such in schools today and a system where our children will be taught and trained on road safety. I cannot over-emphasise the cost to the economy and the effects of road accidents in this country. We are all peoples’ representatives and I am sure a day will not pass and if it does, a week will not end without a Member of Parliament being asked to contribute to medication for those who have been involved in road accidents. Before I conclude, on the law enforcement officers, any time a policy is brought up in this country it does not end up helping to solve the problem for which it was created. In fact, it is a way of creating an avenue for law enforcement officers to harass people, motorists and motorcyclists. They end up using it as a platform for bribe-taking. On Thursday last week, the Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury talked about licensing of motorcyclists. However, whereas that may be a noble cause, I see it as an avenue for the law 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."
}