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{
    "id": 996996,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/996996/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 861,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kiambu CWR, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Gathoni Wamuchomba",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13244,
        "legal_name": "Gathoni Wamuchomba",
        "slug": "gathoni-wamuchomba"
    },
    "content": "signs, hospitals, police stations, railway lines, waterways and even blocking surveillance services that are normally used by our security bodies. Therefore, if we harmonise the way we place our billboards, road signs and advertisements, we will be able to make sure that such necessity signs are clear to the users of this country. I would be very keen to convince this House to adopt this Bill because we have had a lot of confusion with the stakeholders who are in the business of outdoor advertising. In the past, most people who have wanted licences to place their billboards along the main highways have had to move from one office to the other looking for licences. You start off with the design. After you design, you have to go to National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to get a licence for your billboard to be up and after that, you have to go to the county which has to send you again to KeNHA and other government agencies. So, as a businessman and stakeholder, you realise that the process becomes very expensive. Therefore, outdoor advertising in Kenya has become very expensive because of the very many levies that we have been putting in this process. By harmonising this process and making sure that we have a central place where one can get a licence and get facilitated to get all other auxiliary licences that are required, the billboards and outdoor advertising business will become a little bit more affordable to Kenyans and a little bit comfortable even to the users. I would like to appeal to the House to adopt this Bill because of the issues we have had in the past. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, we are politicians in this House, and we have county governments that are manned by politicians. We have had some governors who wanted to monopolise billboards during the campaign period. Such governors would make sure that their opponents did not advertise using billboards or any other form of outdoor advertising in the counties in order to stifle competition. Therefore, we have had scenarios where billboards were mounted during the day and removed at night by political rivals. I believe we have given a lot of procedures on how one can pull down or protect a billboard. With those very many remarks, I second the County Outdoor Advertising Control Bill, 2018 and urge the House to find it worth accommodating."
}