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{
    "id": 971434,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/971434/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 179,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wamatangi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 646,
        "legal_name": "Paul Kimani Wamatangi",
        "slug": "paul-kimani-wamatangi"
    },
    "content": "all those kiosks, cleared the road and called them illegal occupants. Those are men and women with families and children. That became the end of the story. As we invite the Cabinet Secretary to come to Parliament and as this report is debated by this House, we should be aware that there are things that are being done to Kenyans that must be declared to be completely unacceptable. The Committee hopes that all the recommendations that have been made in this Report will be implemented and that fairness will be meted out to the people who have been affected by this project all the way from Kibwezi up to where it terminates. Madam Temporary Speaker, it is also in the Committee’s pursuit that this project must be completed to serve the purpose that it was intended to serve. We want to see it linking a highway that will serve the people of Kitui all the way from Kibwezi and terminate right at the road to Garissa. That should be the only way that this will be a sensible project. On the second Report by this Committee that we are tabling this afternoon and seeking the House to adopt, is the visit by our Committee to the Malaba International Border Point in Busia. Our visit as a Committee was inspired by a Statement that was sought by the Senator for Bungoma, Sen. Wetangula. Sen. Wetangula raised very pertinent issues on how this one-stop border point is supposed to function, how it is functioning and how it is affecting the people. It is not only affecting people in Bungoma, but across the entire corridor, including business in this country. We paid a visit to the border point to ensure and certify most of those facts. One of the glaring points that we noted is the fact that, that road is not only narrow, but unsuitable for use by heavy commercial traffic ferrying goods to other countries from Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. When we toured the Malaba Border Point, before we got to the 20 kilometre mark, what was noticeable was that there was a long snake of trucks all packed and blocking the entire highway. That was one of the main issues that the Senator for Bungoma had raised here. The Senator said that on any one day, it is not possible for anyone to drive through comfortably to the border post because of the backlog and blockade of trucks on that road. We did witness and confirmed that that is, indeed, the case. What is most interesting is that construction of a small loop within the border post that would cost the country less than Kshs100 million was the reason why that entire project failed. Construction worth almost Kshs1 billion had been done yet there was a small loop within the inside of the border post that was supposed to be constructed costing less than Kshs100 million. The contractor was kicked out of the site, funds were not availed to complete that project and the end result is the nightmare that this country is facing now. It is no longer business worthy for an investor or even a transporter to take their cargo from Mombasa to Uganda, Burundi or Congo. They would rather avoid Kenya and go through Tanzania to find another alternative route because this country could not invest less than Kshs100 million to complete a project on which they had already invested almost Kshs1 billion."
}