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{
    "id": 912866,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/912866/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 226,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Saku, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Ali Rasso",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13473,
        "legal_name": "Dido Ali Raso",
        "slug": "dido-ali-raso"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. From the outset, I want to thank Hon. Osoro - I have not been seeing him in this House - for this important Motion for this country. Although he has already stated it, it is about students’ and pupils’ education. That is key. It is important for the people of this country to understand that one of the ways to save lives will be when all and sundry understand road safety. One of the problems in this country is that we form institutions like the NTSA and other organisations funded by public coffers and as soon as they come to being, they experience corruption and conflict within them. The institutions begin to fight. Since the formation of the NTSA, just a few years down the line, we have seen a lot of changes on our roads, particularly on discipline, road safety measures and road marking. When we construct our roads, one of the things we must take into consideration is safety for both pedestrians and motorists whether they are motor cyclists or boda bod a riders . Our roads are designed and made with the intention of serving only those who drive cars. Most of our roads do not have pedestrian walk-ways. Both motorists and pedestrians struggle to occupy the road space of 10 metres. When road contractors, particularly the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) construct our roads, they must take into consideration the fact that roads are not just for motorists, but also for pedestrians. We, as Members of Parliament, travel a lot and see the work of traffic wardens all over the world. In this country, if we did not have traffic wardens across Parliament buildings and at the Haile Selassie Avenue/Uhuru Highway Roundabout, we would be having chaos. As much as we need traffic lights and zebra crossings for pedestrians, we also need to give traffic wardens their space so that there is a seamless flow of traffic. Road markings, Michuki rules and boda boda regulations are some of the areas we can say we made some progress and then took two steps backwards. The Michuki rules provided that all passengers on public transport and private vehicles must have their safety belts on. Those safety belts, even in our own cars, save many lives, but we take them for granted. As far as the youngsters are concerned, when they travel long distances of 600 to 700 kilometres, for example, from western Kenya or north eastern Kenya to Nairobi they get tired. Students are booked at a hostel in Nairobi, 500 kilometres away, as they make the arduous journey. So, as we try to improve the Traffic Act to support this Motion, which I believe is important, I call upon teachers to take the safety of young learners into consideration as they move with them around the country. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}