I understand from the Clerk- at-the-Table that we have no quorum to begin business. I, therefore, order that the Division Bell be rung until such a time as a quorum will be realised.

Order, hon. Members! Pursuant to Standing Order 34(2), I hereby order that the Division Bell be rung for a further five minutes. It is so ordered.

Order! Order, hon. Members! I am informed that we now have quorum to transact business of the House. We shall, therefore, begin.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I beg to present the following petition:- I, the undersigned, on behalf of the residents of Bura Constituency; draw the attention of the House to the following:- Noting that the National Police Service Commission in the exercise of its powers, or in the performance of its functions, the Commissioners are in serious violation of the Constitution and the Laws of Kenya and exhibit gross misconduct in performance of their functions as Commissioners, and that there is incompetence in the conduct of vetting and promotion of police officers without proper regulations in place to guide the process; aware that

This petition is raising constitutional issues and, therefore, I order that it be referred to the relevant Departmental Committee which is the one in charge of administration and national security. Is that the formal name of that department?

It is the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs.

Is it the one on Administration and National Security? They need to respond to us within a maximum of ten days, if you look at Standing Order No.230(5). It is ordered accordingly.

I have a comment.

Hon. (Ms.) Abdalla, you know, you are a senior Member of the Assembly and so when you rise to speak, I need to hear you. What is it? The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I understand that when a petition is read then hon. Members are allowed to ventilate a bit and that is why I had put my intervention button on.

Let me know under what Standing Order that would be.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I do not have my Standing Orders but it is on the Standing Order on petitions.

No.1!

It is not Standing Order No.1; that one I know.

I have had the advantage of looking at the relevant Standing Order and I did not see any like that. Standing Order No.1 is discretionary for the Speaker but now that you are on your feet, continue.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to congratulate hon. Wario for being very brave to bring this petition. Nonetheless, I am a bit suspicious of the timing of this petition considering that, that Commission requires to facilitate the replacement of the Inspector-General of Police. Given that Ms. Chui died over a year ago, what has prompted hon. Wario to bring this matter at this time when we need the Commission so that we can get the Inspector-General of Police on board? I said that I congratulate hon. Wario because the last time somebody joked with the vetting of police officers, they received a head. So, I am very proud of my fellow hon. Member for having the courage to bring this.

Yes, I told you that the hon. Member is a seasoned Member of this House. In fact, I have looked at the Standing Orders and No.226 is really where you have risen to speak and you are quite in order to have risen to speak. Because she has spoken I will, therefore, allow a few people to make comments; not to debate the content of that petition but to make comments that may relate to the issues generally that are arising out of the petition. So, I am recognizing them under interventions because many of you had put requests which I do not want to cancel.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to congratulate hon. Wario.

I am giving you two to three minutes each.

That is okay, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I wish to say that it is an important development in this country. The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) is such an important institution that we cannot leave it in abeyance. We have to give it a chance to discharge its responsibilities. I support.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I will also begin by congratulating my colleague. We are in a security crisis in this country and just as the National Police Service (NPS) itself is being put under a microscope, it is important that we also look at the Commission. The duty to provide security to this country has been given to two institutions; the National Police Service and the National Police Service Commission. Since they have failed, just as we are carrying out a radical surgery in the National Police Service, it is also important that we carry out radical surgery in the National Police Service Commission to ensure that we get it right, once and for all. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

I support the intention to deal with that Commission.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I also congratulate the hon. Member and support his petition. I want to say that we are in a crisis in terms of security in this country, but my concern is that we are having a lot of knee jerk reactions here and there. I know we want to change the law and we are hurrying through that. In my view, we have not comprehensively looked at the issue of security. We talk of the National Police Service, the National Police Service Commission, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and even security intelligence. The kind of insecurity we have involves all those areas. In my mind, even with the Executive, I have not seen, unless it is being done secretly, somebody who is looking at this comprehensively. I know we are rushing through the Bill that came to us yesterday but even administrative matters have not been dealt with where we have the National Police Service, the National Police Service Commission and the police itself with two very clear arms which have two heads and only united at the top. The two arms are still operating independently. Those are not legal issues. I think somebody somewhere in the Executive must sit down and look at the whole security system starting with administrative issues within the law as it exists today.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to congratulate and support hon. Wario for this timely petition. I want to say that it is quite surprising that a time like this when the country needs the work of the Commission, in terms of replacing the gaps in the force, unfortunately an excuse is coming that there is no quorum. Why was it never thought of before that there will be a quorum hitch in terms of resolving some of these major issues? I think this petition is timely and it is well intended. It is, in my view, part of the very serious issues we need to address so that we can arrest this insecurity in the country.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is important to look at this petition. We are at a particular moment in history and our situation in Kenya means that we should look at the structures of security. We should look at their wholeness so that we can come up with a clear system because there seems to be dysfunction somewhere. The issues about the Commission, though I may have my own reservations, need to be looked at keenly so that at the end of the day, we can come up with a proactive approach to address the question of insecurity in this Republic. We should look at all the structures of security and see what exactly needs to be done so that at the end of the day, we can have a secure

have a problem where there is a blame game. Even the matter of the Commission and the gaps that have been highlighted are some of the things that need to be looked at keenly so that at the end of the day we can move ahead and avoid the vacuum that appears to exist within our security structures. We go on to look at the petition and there are very many things that we need to look at; we could just be replacing staff, commissioners and even the Inspector General (IG), but we have not been able to look at the factors that affect insecurity in this country. This is because we have got the Kenya Police, the Administration Police (AP), the army and all other arms that deal with security; this issue has been coming back again and again. I think a thorough study requires to be done to know where we have got cracks within the security system. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

As I stand in front of the House this morning, let me take this opportunity to advise the House and let you know that one of the former Members of the National Assembly, who was a strong debater and also a very strong supporter of Kenya African National Union (KANU), the former Member of Parliament for Mathioya Constituency, Mr. J.J Kamotho, passed on. I take this opportunity to send my condolences to his family and the people of Mathioya. The planning is on and we will keep you posted on progress. We will be welcoming you to Mathioya when all the arrangements have been made to come and condole with the family. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Let us have the hon. Member for Wajir South.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Speaker. I also wish to congratulate hon. Ali for bringing this timely petition. We are in a very difficult period in our country where we have a lot of insecurity issues. It is only fair that we have a proper and fully constituted National Police Service Commission (NPSC), so that at least they fully execute their mandate as enshrined in the Constitution. As we speak, we have problems in the police force. Many police County Commanders are not in their stations. Every time we talk to the county, the police rank and file are not in the station; this could be due to the fight between the various agencies of the police, which are the Kenya Police and the Administration Police; also may be the NPSC is handicapped in doing their functions. We know the police in this country have done a lot of injustices like extrajudicial killings. Two nights ago, I was watching an AlJazeera commentary that was showing how bad extrajudicial killings were happening in Kenya, and our police are involved. It is high time we constituted these commissions; actually it is not only the NPSC. I understand that the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) is not fully constituted. There could be several other commissions where all commissioners are not on board. It is high time even the Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHRC) was constituted. It is good that now the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is in place. It is very important that all these commissions are constituted otherwise this is going to be a joke. Police reforms have now stalled. We have big problems with the police reforms. Therefore, it is only fair to start with this NPSC and have it fully constituted, so that they can do their work and save us from this problem. Thank you very much.

Hon. Member for Tongaren.

Thank you. I will deviate from what the other hon. Members have said. I think this petition is cheeky. It is cheeky because it is coming at a time when there is also something we fast- tracked yesterday about revamping the laws governing security. Somebody is trying to take advantage of the fear that Kenyans have due to the increased insecurity. In the process, he is trying to put everything upside down and inside out; this petition is one of the ways in which he intends to do this. This is because when one commissioner died, the Vice Chair was supposed to replace her? Who is supposed to have done that? If one commissioner is bedridden, whose mandate is it to replace that commissioner? If one commissioner has got issues of integrity, whose The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

mandate is it to replace that commissioner, so that there should have been quorum at the Commission? I have suspicion at the back of my mind that this petition is cheeky. It is going to run hand in hand with the Bill that was tabled yesterday on revamping the security mechanisms in the country and in the process, I think, there will be a move to replace many of these people with what I would call compliant subjects of the country. I am a bit reluctant to say this, but I will say it all the same. This House should be awake to the fact that the occupier of the house on the hill is the son of the person who brought detention without trial. The occupier of the house on the hill is an ardent student of the person who brought one party state in this country. We need to be awake to that. This petition is cheeky. Thank you.

All right. Having heard all the reservations and the compliments, and all what you have said, this petition therefore stands committed to the Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security. We will expect them to make a report to the House within 14 days in compliance with the Standing Orders of the National Assembly. Next Order!

Hon. Joseph Lekuton; is he in the Chamber? Can you press your intervention button? Proceed, please.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I beg to move that the Traffic (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 33 of 2014

Thank you. Hon. Ottichilo, will you press your intervention button?

Yes. Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. First, I take this opportunity to thank my good colleague, hon. Lekuton, Laisamis Constituency, for bringing this Bill to this House.

In the Tenth Parliament, my colleague, hon. Lekuton, also brought a very important Bill and I had a chance to second it. That Bill was the Unclaimed Assets Bill. Today, we have a big Unclaimed Assets Authority, which actually looks after a lot of money that has been left in banks by various people; this money is in excess of Kshs300 billion. This money is now available for this country to use. So, I want to congratulate him for again bringing this very important Bill. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, accidents in this country have become the order of the day, particularly accidents involving pedestrians. According to the statistics we have, over 50 per cent of accidents involve pedestrians. When you go further, you find that more than a half of them are children. Most of these accidents in many cases occur near institutions of learning. So, it is important, as my friend has said that we put up a very punitive law to ensure that we do not lose our children through these careless accidents which are caused by our careless drivers. It is important that we support this Bill, so that we can secure our children. I am very happy that this Bill also looks at how our children are ferried, or carried, to various institutions of learning. If one did research and checked how vehicles that ferry our children to schools are, most of them would be defective, overloaded with children and driven by drivers whom I would say are careless. This Bill attempts to put in place punitive measures to ensure that our children are carried in vehicles that have been inspected, certified to have safety equipment and are driven by drivers who are very careful, trained and who have---

Member getting into the Chamber, order! Go back to the Bar and bow. I did not see you do so.

I bowed, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

Well, it is the hon. Speaker who sees and I did not see you do so.

Proceed, hon. Otichillo.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the intention of this Bill is to ensure that we secure our children.

As regards speed limit, when it comes to driving, most Kenyans do not even look at the road signs, particularly those that are near schools. So, it is important that strict speed limits are prescribed.

Finally, there is the issue---

All right, Member for Emuhaya, just a minute. Member for Kitui South, you are on a point of order.

On a point of order, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. As a Member of Parliament and a colleague of the Members who are seated here this morning, we need to give respect to the position of the hon. Speaker in this House. If the hon. Speaker gives an instruction and it is ignored, I feel it as a colleague. I would like to say that I feel that you have given an instruction to an hon. Member to bow and she walked out. That cannot be taken kindly.

I have risen on a point of order. Is it in order that you give instructions to a Member to just bow and she decides to walk out? That is not in order and I would like you to take action.

We are not going to waste more time on that; I will order the Serjeant-at-Arms to confirm seeing that hon. Member- The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

-- Hon. Speaker did not see her walk out I will, therefore, order the Serjeant-at-Arms to give me a report. When I have that report, I will act on it.

Let us proceed.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

In conclusion, I want also to highlight one important aspect of this Bill, which is in many cases ignored. It concerns carrying of children who are under eight years in our cars and other vehicles. In many cases, if you are observant on our roads, you will notice that we, parents, carry our small children in our cars without safety equipment, and without putting in areas that are well secured. In fact, in some cases, you will find even some drivers whom I would say are “crazy” having their small children sitting on their lap and they are driving. This is extremely dangerous.

This Bill attempts to ensure that those parents who carry their children in their cars without securing them well, when actually some of the cars have all the security devices--- One security measure is making sure the windows are not opened and the doors are securely locked. Most of our drivers do not care. They leave small children looking outside. This is extremely dangerous.

With those few remarks, I second this Bill. Thank you very much.

I take it that this is the order of the requests that you made. So, I will run down the list.

Member for Makueni, you are the first one.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving an opportunity to contribute to this very important Bill. I also thank hon. Lekuton for having thought it very wise to bring this Bill, which I support.

Last year, a school bus of the school that my children attend caused an accident. We were in a Committee meeting in Mombasa and so I did not have much information initially. When I rang the school and my family nobody picked the calls. So, I immediately arranged to come back to Nairobi to see what had happened. Though my children turned out not to have been in that particular vehicle, 18 children had been treated and discharged from hospital and it was a very serious matter.

I am very happy that this matter is here and I want to support it. It is very important that we think of children’s safety not only in Kenya but also in other countries, where there are very important laws that protect children.

In Kenya we have seen a lot of times that school buses are overloaded, overspeed and nobody seems to do something about it. Our children are knocked down when crossing roads to go to school by speeding motorists who, a lot of times, disappear. They are never traced and young lives are lost.

Therefore, while I support this I would like to say that sanctions are very good, though we may have to look at the fines imposed and increase them. The fines imposed are not punitive enough. The fines have to be sufficient. Also, around the schools where there are highways, we should have proper regulation that speed bumps and proper sign posts be erected, so that a motorist who does not know that area sees a road sign written “30 km per hour speed limit”. Also, there should be bumps to make sure that children are The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

safe. Where necessary, schools should have people to help children cross roads. It is better when every punitive measure is put in law.

Laws exist to secure children during transportation. For example, a lot of vehicles have signs showing that no children should sit in front. When children sit in front there is a problem when safety devices in a car malfunction due to an impact. Therefore, it is better for children to be properly secured in a car. If one is carrying a baby there should be a baby seat and a sign reading: “baby on board,” so that other motorists know that there is a child in that car. It is also against the law; it has not been properly enforced, and we should revisit it in this Bill; children should not be locked, or left, in cars. They can attempt to drive vehicles. Some children are very smart and can start a car if keys are left in the car. If you leave a child in the car, they may end up starting the car. Nowadays, we have automatic cars which may move on their own and cause injury to children. Some cars are so stuffy that you cannot breathe if they are locked and are not in motion. When you lock children in cars, they may also perish. We also need to include in this Bill motor cycles, because many times the available school transport is the motorbike. You will find that somebody has put five children on one motorbike to take them to school. One will be in front, while the others will be at the back; this is a big risk to children. Child safety is very important. I support this very important Bill and urge other Members to support it. I beg to support.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. First of all, I want to thank hon. Lekuton for bringing this amendment. Most of the time when we make our laws, we do not consider our children, and that is why many of them are dying on our roads. We need to make a law to compel all our road contractors to make sure that traffic signs are erected to protect our children. Some contractors do not put those signs. Because of that, some drivers drive at very high speed on roads and sometimes knock down children along roads. Concerning school transport, some private schools transport our children using Land Rovers or Land Cruisers with no safety belts. During an accident, or if anything happens, it causes a lot of injuries to our children. We need to make it a rule that every school must designate a school bus that transports children which is fitted with all safety gadgets. We also need to make sure that all schools erect some bumps near the school, so that vehicles can slow down and allow children to cross the road. Without the bumps, vehicles pass at high speeds. We need to make sure that bumps are erected near every learning institution, so that vehicles can slow down when they reach there. In conclusion, we need to compel schools to make sure that they teach children about safety, so that they can know when to cross a road and when not. This should be put in the curriculum, so that children can know their safety at an early age. I beg to support.

Thank you very much, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I also wish to join my colleagues--- The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Just a minute. Member for Igembe Central and Member for Kitui South, will you please, press your intervention buttons in that order? You will get your chance in that order. All right, go on.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I wish to join my colleagues in congratulating hon. Lekuton for this very important Bill. Increasingly, Kenyans are now becoming road users than ever before. There are more vehicles on our roads. There is an increase in the so-called boda bodas on our roads. More public transport vehicles are now coming onto the roads. As this continues to happen, the challenges in terms of road safety are also becoming a nightmare to our country. Because most of our roads are old, they were not designed to ensure communication on traffic compliance or safety measures such as speed bumps and others. Vehicles should have seat belts, and be road worthy. For that reason, increasingly and unfortunately, many Kenyans are getting either killed, disabled or their lives thrown apart because of otherwise avoidable road accidents. This is affecting our national productivity. Many times, people who are injured, or maimed, in road accidents are the very young and economically productive Kenyans who, otherwise, would have added to the well-being of this country. Unfortunately, instead of that happening, they are either killed or injured and become a burden to the taxpayer or the families that will have to bear the high cost of treating them. Some of them get permanent disabilities. For that reason, this Bill is timely and important. The fact that it actually focuses on the safety of our children makes it very important. Transportation of our children to school is becoming a very dangerous business. Time and again, we see overloaded and un-roadworthy buses, owned or hired by schools, or even hired by parents who come together and pool resources to hire some means of transport for their children. The more we see that, the more we know that a catastrophe is just about to happen. Bringing on board this law will ensure that safety of our children as they go to school is paramount; the future generation of our country should be taken care of. It is our responsibility as parents, leaders in office and as responsible adult Kenyans to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our future generations. The so-called Probox vehicle is becoming a serious problem in Kenya. We see it on our television every day loaded with more than tens of people, some seated even in the boot. They carry very many people and, at times, people even share a seat with the driver. Many times, these are children going to school. We have seen this time and again on our screens. We have, unfortunately, even seen traffic police officers waving down these vehicles and releasing them in the very dangerous state of being overloaded with children mostly going to school. For that reason, it is important that we pass this Bill, which now provides that there shall be penalties on offenders. Offenders in this case will be the owners of Proboxes and boda bodas . Every day, we see either on our screens or on the roads as we drive along, a motorbike carrying as many as five children. If an accident happens, that will mean that five members of the future generation of our country will be killed or seriously injured. These are things that are happening. I want to urge parents to, indeed, be very careful in terms of the safety and wellbeing of our children. I know there is the issue of cost. This brings us to other legislation which, as a House, we need to think about, probably for subsidizing the transportation of children to school. We probably need to come up with legislation for The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

subsidizing school transport and removing certain taxes from school buses, so that parents can afford to take their children to school, and are not forced to go to boda bodas and Proboxes, which are becoming increasingly dangerous. There are speed limits around schools. Unfortunately, for many Kenyans, even when we see signs of children crossing a road, we do not observe the speed limit. You will see somebody on that spot driving at over 100 kilometres per hour.

This is very dangerous and I want to say that this particular Bill imposes penalties to offenders, people who cause accidents on such spots and people who cause accidents by carelessly carrying children in un-roadworthy vehicles. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, as I end, the other proposal which this Bill talks of is the uniformity of, for example, colours for the buses. As Kenyans, we need to be responsible. If you see a vehicle carrying children and it is being driven dangerously and you are a responsible Kenyan, use the powers given to you under the Constitution of citizenship to arrest or inform the authorities to make the arrest of that particular driver. Ensure that you spend that little time and the inconvenience to ensure that the person is brought under the law so that we save future generations of this country. With those many remarks, I support this very important Bill and I thank you.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to support this very important Bill. I would like to start by congratulating our colleague, hon. Lekuton, for bringing this Bill. Many years ago, I remember there was a campaign that used to say: “Say yes to children”. To me, this is a Bill that makes us reflect on yes, we have a Traffic Act; but does it put our children in perspective? As I congratulate him, I would like to say that our roads are not safe. Yes, the areas near our churches, playgrounds and schools and more so near nursery schools are not properly marked. I would say this is a Bill that is going to ensure that this is done. As I support this Bill, I would like to reflect on the fact that our roads do not have cycling paths and they do not have a place where children can walk. In most parts of the world today, children are being encouraged to walk to school. In Western countries, they have walking paths, meaning that children are not being dropped to school in big Mercedes Benzes and other nice cars. They have realized that child obesity is a problem. So, other parts of the world have already accepted that we need to have paths where children can walk. We need to have places where children can cycle to school. This is a very important Bill because it gives that opportunity. Provision of bumps is also provided for and I think this is a safety measure that is going to ensure that our children are safer because children are not able to think the way adults do and they need to be thought for by ourselves. As legislators, it is our opportunity, being in this House, to think of how children can be taken care of. I would also like to point out that even as we do amendments to the existing Act, we also need to know that our police, especially the traffic police, need to be properly engaged. They need to be sensitized on the importance of taking care of children along the roads. Being the ones who are present on the roads more often than most of us, the police can also be sensitized to take the responsibility, as parents and as responsible Kenyans, to ensure that children cross roads safely. I would like to reflect on a time I interacted with a big school in Nairobi, which is a very good private school. I will not mention the name because it is not the subject The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

matter. We were engaging children on their body movement and activity. One of the questions that we were asking is how children come to school and how they get back home. We had an opportunity to take photographs of children inside buses. The buses that our children are using to be transported to and from school are extremely unsafe even for schools which are seen to be at the top rank. This Bill recommends that the number of children in a vehicle needs to be checked to ensure that our children are safe. That is most welcome. To me, this is the highlight of this Bill. When the bus is overloaded, those children are then exposed to unhealthy circumstances. So, I would like to say that this is very good opportunity that we need to seize as we support this Bill, which puts our children in perspective. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, as Kenya moves towards being a middle level economy, it is in this country where people are seated inside a vehicle--- I would like to call it what my colleague, Member for Balambala, has called it, ‘the Probox menace’. For some of us in our constituencies, the Probox is the means of transport. When you count the number of people in that Probox, you shudder. It is really a bad feeling. I do not know and I would like to find out whether during the Third Reading, there is a way of enforcing this. Today in our hospitals, we have wards that are specific for motorbike accident victims. Most of the accidents today are not as a result of the vehicles that we are discussing here, but it is the motorbikes that use the wrong side of the road. Can we make a specific mention of the motorbikes in this Bill? Motorbikes with five children on board; motorbikes with a mother and her three children on board and they do not have any way of protecting themselves. It is something that we may want hon. Lekuton to mention so that it comes out more strongly. On the issue of restraining our children, as we move towards being a middle level economy, we need to think about this. In other countries, what we see is children being properly cuddled by using the prescribed child restraint devices which does not happen here. It is not only with the poor or middle class, but even for high ranking individuals in this country. We do not take those safety measures. As I thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak, I would like to say that this is a very good and healthy Bill that needs to be taken seriously. As we do construction of the roads, instead of thinking about the extra budget that comes with the pavement, let us think of the good health of Kenyans who will walk along that pavement and those who will cycle along the pavement. Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity.

Hon. Kajwang’

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Bill. Let me start by thanking hon. Lekuton for bringing in this Bill which is timely and should be enacted immediately because it is very important for this country. Road carnage in this country of ours is as bad as any other diseases in this country. Most of our people are dying because of ignorance and lack of knowledge on how to use our roads; and especially our children. You will find people walking on the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

wrong side of the road and even if you hoot, nobody is bothered to check if that vehicle has a problem or why you are hooting. Sometimes, people are killed that way. Pedestrians, especially mothers and children, are killed mostly because of their ignorance. They do not know the rules of the game especially when they are walking on the road. This Bill is very important. We need our children to be taught that once they get to the road, they should not behave as if they are in a field where they are playing football or other games. When they are on the road, there is a problem because it is used by machines that can crash one. That lesson should start from the word go in our schools and as the children grow up, they should know that roads are dangerous places. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the other road users should also be penalized, especially if they break traffic rules. In our country today, if somebody is hit by a vehicle or a pedestrian is injured, usually the driver and the insurance company are penalized. But nobody goes to the details of knowing exactly how the accident occurred. Through experience, I have noticed that many pedestrians who are hit by vehicles contribute even more than 50 per cent to the cause of that accident. Look at our City of Nairobi; people use Zebra Crossing 24 hours, 7 days a week even if the lights are green, red or any other colour. They just walk because there is a Zebra Crossing until they cause traffic jam because they do not bother to look at the traffic lights to know when one is supposed to cross and when one is supposed to wait for the vehicles to cross. In the developed countries in Europe - and I happened to be there - you will find that if the lights are red, a pedestrian should not cross even if there are no vehicles. But here, we do not respect that. The culture of ignorance is costing us many lives and a lot of expenses because of accidents. This Bill will go a long way in taming those errant motorists who take the opportunity of this ignorance to overload vehicles in the name of making a few coins or making money easily. The Probox, as my colleagues have mentioned, is a very good mode of transport in this country. That is because the vehicle is cheap to maintain; it is cheap to run and is also efficient. Unfortunately, it has been misused. You will find instances - and I will give an example where a traffic officer in my constituency stopped a Probox and when he asked the people who were there to alight, 15 people and five goats came out. So, you cannot tell exactly--- Five goats were in the same Probox. So, you cannot fathom where they were seated or who was on top of the other one.

What were goats doing in a Probox?

They were in the boot; they were going to be slaughtered.

That is serious!

Yes, it is serious

To be slaughtered and yet children were also travelling in the same vehicle?

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, children were there going to school and the owners of the goats were there. So, when the Inspector told them to get out and they stood there, he could not believe it! They came out of that particular vehicle and they were so many. So, we are ignorant of so many things. The boot of that Probox The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

can carry five goats and usually, they come from my brother’s area, hon. Aden of Balambala to be slaughtered in Maua. It is quite worrying and it is---

When you are still on that point, you may want to make contributions as to whether you just need to enforce the Traffic Act or even at the same time as you are debating this amendment, put an amendment towards--- I think those vehicles you are referring to are not allowed to carry passengers as far as I am concerned. So, you may want to put a stiff sentence on those people who are using those little vehicles to carry passengers.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for that advice. In this one, we are emphasizing very much on children but children do not get into those vehicles by themselves. They are put there by grown-ups and people who know what they are doing. Those are the people who are flouting the traffic rules. So, those traffic rules should also be amended as you have put it correctly. Those boda bodas are just taxis which are supposed to be hired by a few people or one person from point “A” to point “B”. They are not matatus .

They only have a right to do taxi business. They are not to have fare-paying passengers. Actually, even insurances would not cover them. Would they?

Correctly said, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. We also have to address the issue of boda bodas or piki pikis . The piki piki or boda boda menace has come as a storm in this country. It is also a very good mode of transport which is ferrying people from the interior because of the poor roads in our country. We have very many poor roads in our country. Those boda bodas usually pick children from their homes to main roads so that school buses can pick them. Because the boda boda person wants to make as many trips as possible and carry as many children as possible, you find even a child sitting on the fuel tank and the other four at the back and their bags on their backs. They sit precariously on that boda boda as they rush to the bus stage where they will take a bus. Sadly, that bus will also try to carry as many children as possible so that it does not come back a second time. So, we are endangering the lives of our children from the moment they leave the house until they get to the classroom. So, this law should address that. Even if we want to minimize costs and ferry as many people as possible, we should take care of life. We should take care of the lives of our children. Our roads were designed for few vehicles which were there in those days. Today, the traffic on our roads is quite high and if you want to go to some places, you will find that getting to a certain market is a nightmare. I will give an example of Ngurubani in Mwea where you will find donkey carts, motorbikes and people walking. Driving along that road especially during the rush hours or during the day becomes very difficult. Our roads should be designed so that, at least, we can accommodate donkey or cow-pulled carts. Our roads should be designed in a way that we have lanes for piki pikis or bodabodas. Of late, the current models we have, have small engines. They are overloaded and therefore, they ride at a snail’s speed or even at 40 kilometers per hour. If a vehicle drives at 100 kilometers per hour, and that motorbike is riding slowly on the road, chances of having that motorbike hit somebody are very high. Chances are very high for an accident to occur. We need to have rules that the piki pikis or boda bodas should be riding on the The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

side of the road so that they can clear the way for other fast moving traffic and then we can minimize those accidents. I strongly support this Bill and I urge hon. Lekuton---

Your time is up. Hon. Member for Emurua Dikirr.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I also stand to support this Traffic (Amendment) Bill. I think this amendment is very important especially on our roads which, as we speak today, even as we approach the festive season, we know most of the traffic offences are committed during this season. During this festive season, we normally have rampant accidents on our roads. Those rules are very important because they will help to reduce accidents which normally involve our minors.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, road signs have been disrespected in most of the cases by road users. In most cases, people do not even look at the speed limits. They even do not look at the signs that show the Zebra Crossings. People do not respect the fact that children may be crossing the roads on particular areas. This particular Bill is meant to guide every other motorist to know when they are supposed to be speeding and at what particular limit.

The most important issue that I wish to support seriously is the road signs, which are meant to show that a school is nearby. In many countries, we have road crossing assistants who hold signs to the motorists. The motorists respect that. In our country, many motorists do not respect road signs. In this Bill, we need to provide for such people to assist our children to cross the roads. The speed limit must be regulated. Signs are supposed to guide our motorists on what speeds to drive at on which areas. Sometimes, our counties and also the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure are misusing those privileges or rights. Along the highways where they have created bypasses and bridges for people to cross, how can they reduce the speed limit to 50 kilometres per hour on those particular areas and yet, they were created to allow the traffic to flow very fast? The speed limit should be on particular areas especially the ones this Bill is talking about, for example, near primary or secondary schools. In terms of bumps and rumble strips, I support the idea of erecting bumps where they are necessary, but not everywhere. There are areas where accidents have happened severally, for example, Sachangwan, where several people have died. Those are simple things which can be resolved by the erection of bumps. I encourage that we erect bumps on areas which are prone to accidents and near schools where children are crossing the road. I also support the creation of rumble strips. I have visited several countries and there are rumble strips on the side of the road which remind the drivers that they are over- The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

speeding, have moved out of the road or there is a school nearby. We need to put in place those measures, which will assist in reminding motorists that there are schools around that place. I support the fact that we are providing for serious penalties on people who do not respect Zebra Crossings. When you took a driving course, the most important thing that you were taught is that you do not hoot near Zebra Crossings and you do not rush when people are crossing there. You were also taught that you need to respect the traffic lights. Most of our motorists do not respect that. We need to put in place measures to penalise people who do not respect Zebra Crossings. People in our country have a culture of not respecting traffic lights and I do not understand why. Traffic lights are meant to control the flow of traffic and to allow other motorists and pedestrians to use the road. We need to seriously look into the penalties that are imposed on the people who do not respect traffic lights. I also wish to support the issue of the boda bodas. There have been several accidents in our country, especially in areas where people use boda bodas because most of the riders are not properly trained. We need to create a fund that can help the riders to acquire licences cheaply and also be trained, so that they can also reduce road accidents that we are having in our villages. I end there by saying that I support. I ask my friends to support the Bill.

(Hon. (Ms.) Shebesh): Member for Siaya County, hon. Christine Ombaka.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity. I would also like to contribute to the Traffic (Amendment) Bill. Many accidents occur out of carelessness and many children have suffered. In Siaya, I recently saw a very grisly accident which occurred and four children died. I notice that the motorbikes are overloaded all the time. You find four, sometimes six children on a motorbike carrying books. There are little ones and big ones. So, if you count the number of people on a motorbike, they are seven. The accident was so ugly because they were trying to negotiate a very sharp bend. They suddenly lost control and the accident occurred. Four children died and two others are in hospital. That was the ugly side of things. What one sees about road accidents is over-loading and over-speeding. Even in the rural areas where there are no tarmac roads, but only earth roads, accidents still occur. They knock down cows and trees. They also drop in rivers and on bridges. It is a very sad thing that happens. We should not think that those accidents happen only in towns, they happen in the village as well. The motorbikes hit vehicles and many other things. The statistics that are quoted here do not capture the accidents that happen in the rural areas. Those are hidden areas, very difficult to reach and to see what happens there. The statistics that we are seeing here may be only statistics from the city or big towns. However, there are many accidents because of over-speeding. Another thing that is very clear is that people do not seem to understand what a Zebra Crossing is. Vehicles do not stop at the Zebra Crossing. That is the law. They should stop and wait for pedestrians to cross. Even outside the Parliament Buildings, there is a Zebra Crossing, but I escaped almost being hit when crossing. Nobody respects Zebra Crossings. They are supposed to protect pedestrians when crossing the road and the motorists should stop and wait. Nobody has that kind information or people do not have The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

any respect for pedestrians. Traffic education and education to know the safety measures is needed by everybody, namely, the pedestrians, drivers and riders. There is lack of respect for one another. Everybody has a right to cross the road and motorists should give the pedestrians their chance to cross the road or give a vehicle a chance to pass by while you stand and wait. Nobody respects all this. We have such bad behavior when it comes to traffic offences. Even the language that we use is not proper. We are so rude on the road. Those are the small things that we must guard against. They are part and parcel of safety. You also need to be respected.

You will see somebody overtaking in a sharp and blind corner, a black spot where accidents occur all the time. There is overtaking without respect and without knowing where you are heading. Those are the accidents that we see. Children suffer a lot because they are discriminated against. People do not think children matter. People just cross without looking at children and before they know what is happening, a vehicle has hit a child. When walking on the road with their children, parents cross the road and leave them behind. They do not hold their hands. A lot of education is required here. We need education for adults with children and for teachers who let children cross the road in front of their schools. There are no pedestrian crossings in front of school gates. The public come up with their own big bumps because they get annoyed with the accidents that occur. They create their own and make them so huge that no vehicle can cross over. I have seen young people erecting bumps after an accident has occurred and they make them so huge for a vehicle to cross over. We need to have some discipline on our roads. Who is supposed to erect a bump? Is it the public who get annoyed because an accident has occurred and they erect one at their own will and as huge as they wish - like a mountain - such that a vehicle cannot pass?

Everybody needs education. I have seen education going on occasionally, but it comes periodically. There is public education on road traffic or safety for one week then it disappears for two months before it comes again. What we need is constant education, both in the schools, in the radio and everywhere else. Otherwise, we are all responsible and it is going to be very difficult if that education is not done. It should be there all the time. We are now going for Christmas. You are going to start seeing accidents where 10 or 100 people die, simply because people are so excited about Christmas and, therefore, they drink and drive and over-speed on blind spots. Bridges are not protected and accidents occur all the time.

I support this Bill and I insist that public education must come first. We must all know our rights and respect one another, even a child. Motorists should know when to stop to let pedestrians pass and pedestrians also need to know when to wait for a vehicle to pass before they cross. Thank you for the opportunity.

(Hon. (Ms.) Shebesh): Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu, member for Kibwezi East Constituency, the chance is yours.

Thank you, Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to the attempts by Parliament to amend the Traffic Act No.403, through a Bill by hon. Lekuton. This morning, we heard from the Speaker that an hon. Member had defied the Standing Orders. It is important that hon. Members of this House read their Standing The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Orders and respect the Chair or the Speaker of the session or sitting. We are being viewed outside as if we have not gone through the introductory phase of our Parliament. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, what is in the Bill by hon. Lekuton? Clause 3 talks about the boundaries that we are putting in law. Any person driving or any person who permits another person to drive should know that we shall have a speed limit of 30 kilometres per hour. Those are areas around nursery, primary or secondary schools. We are talking about institutions where children reside or are normally accessed by children. The Bill also talks about the public playing grounds accessed by children, the area used by the Children when crossing to and from schools. We also have the health facilities. I was thinking that we can also include market centres, so that we do not look at it and address the school children only. The Bill also talks about the traffic signs that are prescribed to be erected in the relevant areas. I represent Kibwezi East Constituency. Two weeks or a month ago, I buried a student from Kalulu Secondary School who was knocked down by a vehicle. My constituency is along the Mombasa Highway. Lack of traffic signs has really caused death to many people and, especially, the school-going children in my area. This is the right time to bring such a Bill so that we protect our school-going children. The erection of such signs will ensure that motorists and drivers are informed of the black spots and areas that have schools and school-going children as per the description of the boundaries that have been put by the hon. Member, while bringing the Bill. As I support the Bill, we are talking about the standards, the road signs and the erection of such signs in the black spots. Of course, this is going to increase child safety. I listened to the hon. Member when he was moving his Bill and he talked about the proposal included in the Bill about the uniform colour of school buses. When you go to other countries like the United States of America, they have one uniform colour of school buses. We can bring and consider amendments to ensure that school buses can be noticed and are given priority. We can also bring amendments to ensure that lanes for school buses are provided for. When you go to some countries, you find that we have those lanes. I pray for this country that we can also get to such levels. We have engineers in the House who can advise the Government so that we can have lanes for school buses. When we have such lanes, we will ensure that our school buses get access to such lanes and speed. When I was coming to Parliament and when we were seeking to have quorum, I saw the traffic jam in Nairobi. I noticed how the school children wake up so early to beat the traffic jam. Waking up at 4 o’clock, for Standard Two babies like mine, is too early. If we had lanes for school buses and give priority and preference to the buses going to schools, we would ensure safety for our school-going children. On the same issue, we want to talk about other lanes allocated to the boda boda operators. Most traffic accidents are caused by boda bodas, simply because they have not been given their space. In my constituency, we have many boda boda motorcyclists who are killed on the road. It is high time we gave them priority in terms of giving them space. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

As hon. Lekuton indicated while moving the Bill, the issue of hooting is also important to include when it comes to the Committee Stage. We can erect signs but hooting and loud noise disturb students in schools. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, as much as we limit our speed, it is also important to ensure that the law caters for such noise like hooting in such areas so that we can have our pupils and students concentrate. I know there is need and we have representation from all parts of this country. Members of Parliament would also want to contribute to this as it affects all. I support the Bill and I want to thank hon. Lekuton for finding it wise to bring it to this House.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to support this Traffic (Amendment) Bill and to congratulate my friend, hon. Lekuton for bringing the amendment.

(Ms.) (Hon. Shebesh): Order, hon. (Ms.) Mbarire and hon. Lessonet.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, there are several underlying factors. In fact, before we address the issues of discipline among our drivers including private vehicles drivers, drivers for public service vehicles and VIP drivers, you can see what happens. It is because of lack of discipline to begin with. When you leave Parliament and you go towards Mombasa Road through Uhuru Highway, it takes a lot of time and it is because there is no discipline. Even where there is space for one vehicle to pass, everybody blocks it. I think it goes down to training and culture which has to be done through a lot of sensitisation programmes where people are told to be disciplined when they are driving and know that the road is for everybody. When you go to driving schools, there are all manner of schools. There are people who get driving licences without going to any driving school. The traffic police who train and the training schools should be looked into. We need a total overhaul of traffic issues from the starting point of the driving schools to our discipline. People are very careless all over the place. You have heard about overloading. Most of the times, they overload because they are carrying children and when an accident occurs, you have casualties. Many of those children lose their lives. Driving at night is another issue. The number of buses that cause accidents is because of over-speeding and driving at night. That was the case in the recent accident in Kisii. I think schools should plan that when children are supposed to travel for school programmes, they should be able to travel during the day. It should be early enough and not the last minute rush. The last minute rush is because of lack of resources; either the school does not have resources to hire buses or if they have buses, they do not have fuel. So, they are looking for money at the last minute and, sometimes, they call Members of Parliament asking for fuel and they get here late. So, if planning can be done earlier, we can address the speed limit. Another issue is the condition of the roads. Our roads even in towns are terrible. There are places where you cannot pass and in the process of trying to meander around to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

pass, you find there are accidents. Some hon. Members have talked about having uniform colours but you know the vehicles specifically used by schools have blue number plates. A number of them are marked and written distinctly that they are school buses. I think that could be enough. For gadgets like safety belts and where the law on safety belts and speed limits has been violated, I think that needs to be enforced. There is also the issue of the Zebra Crossing. There is a Zebra Crossing here and an hon. Member has talked about it. It is still here and nobody respects it. Sometimes you wonder where those people who are crossing from the side of Harambee House are rushing to and yet, there are vehicles. All that needs to be enforced. Hon. Lekuton has specified some of the aspects that should be enforced. I was wondering whether those penalties he has put here are adequate enough. This business of Kshs10,000, Kshs15000, Kshs20,000 and Kshs25,000--- Somebody will be arrested and it will be very easy for him to get somebody to pay for him. We may have to look into this and try to enhance them because people can even manage to pay Kshs100,000. The most important thing is for us to do some kind of continuous education. I can see the Vice-Chairman is here. We can have continuous education on radio and television. The Government has done quite a lot of things but they have been washed down the drain. There was a time when the Ministry of Transport, when we were there, came up with a scheme at a place near the University of Nairobi where parents were supposed to take their children for traffic education. But later on, that scheme was abandoned. It was a good scheme where children could go for recreation over the weekends like on Saturdays or Sundays to learn about road signs. Even when they are young, they will know those signs and where to cross. When they grow up, they will be like wazungu children who know how to drive and ride bicycles when they are still young. That is what we also need to enforce. We should have various places where children can go to see demonstrations of those road signs. Finally, I just want to say hon. Kamotho was a Member of this House; a very outstanding Member and a Cabinet Minister. There was also hon. Shamalla. I want to send my condolences to the families of both of them and the people of those two constituencies for their passing on. I support this Motion.

Ahsante sana, Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Muda. Nasimama kuunga mkono huu mjadala na Mswada ambao mhe. Lekuton ametuletea. Huu Mswada umeletwa wakati muhimu na unanihusu kwa sababu mwaka jana, niliwapoteza wanafunzi wanne wa St. Peters katika eneo langu la Bunge la Kipipiri. Wanafunzi hao waligongwa na gari ambalo lilikuwa linaenda kwa kasi sana na likatoka barabarani na likawakuta kando ya barabara na wakafariki. Ulikuwa ni wakati wa majonzi sana. Katika mwaka huu pia, tumewapoteza mwanafunzi wengine wawili kule Manunga. Kwa hivyo, sheria hii itakuwa muhimu sana kuhakikisha kuwa watoto wetu hawauawi, haswa kwenye barabara za lami ambapo magari huenda kwa mwendo wa kasi. Baada ya ajali kufanyika, wananchi hukimbia kuweka ilani na vizuio kuonyesha kuna ajali, ilhali kila mmoja wetu anajua kuwa karibu na shule, watoto huvuka barabara mara kwa mara na kuna uwezekano wa ajali kufanyika. Kawaida, wananchi hukimbia kama farasi kutoka zizini. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Nimeangalia sheria hii na inasema kuwa mahali popote ambapo kuna shule au kituo cha afya, madereva wasizidishe kilomita 30 kwa saa. Pia, wanaohusika na barabara waweke ilani na ishara kuwajulisha madereva kuwa kuna shule au kituo cha afya. Pia, ilani hizi zitaonyesha kiwango cha mwendo ambao madereva wanafaa kuendesha magari yao. Shida ambayo tuko nayo ni kuwa kila wakati, hizo ishara na tarifa zinawekwa lakini wezi wa vyuma wanazing’oa. Madereva wanashindwa kujua ni wapi kuna shule karibu. Katika sehemu ya pili ya sheria hii ambayo Mhe. Lekuton amependekeza iwe hatia kwa madereva, ningeomba tuseme kuwa ni hatia kupitisha kiwango cha mbio ambacho kimewekwa. Pili, sheria inafaa kuyapatia jukumu mashirika yote ya barabara. Mashirika yote ya barabara yanafaa kuwa na jukumu hili. Siyo kwenye barabara kuu peke yake ambapo kuna shule na vituo vya afya. Hata kando ya barabara ndogo ndogo kuna mashule na vituo vya afya na mashirika ya barabara yanastahili kupewa jukumu la kuweka ilani ya kuonyesha kuwepo kwa shule au kituo cha afya. Ningependekeza kuwe na mabadiliko machache katika sheria hii ambayo imependekezwa. Tunafaa kuyapatia mashule jukumu la kuhakikisha kuwa kuna watu mlangoni mwa shule kuwasaidia watoto kuvuka barabara. Wenzangu wamesema kuwa kuna mashule ambayo yamewaajiri watu ambao wanainua ishara ya kusimamisha magari ili wanafunzi wavuke barabara. Ni muhimu tuliweke jukumu hilo kwa upande wa shule au Serikali. Sisi kama viongozi na mashirika ambayo yanahusika, tunafaa kuweka daraja za miguu mahali popote ambapo pana shule, ili badala ya watoto kuwa wanakimbia kila wakati, wanatumia daraja hizo. Huenda tusiwe na peza za kutosha kuweka daraja kila mahali, lakini tunafaa kuweka daraja za miguu ili watoto watumie kuvuka barabara. Wenzangu wameongea kuhusu waendeshaji baskeli na pikipiki. Tumehakikisha kuwa wote wamepata mafunzo ya uendeshaji wa boda boda na wamepata leseni. Ni muhimu tuwe na mradi wa kitaifa kuhakikisha vijana wetu ambao pia wanachangia uchumi na wamepata ajira kupitia kwa piki piki, wamepata hayo mafunzo ili waache kubeba wateja wengi na kuendesha piki piki kiholela holela. Inasikitisha kuona magari ambayo yanawabeba wanafunzi yakiwa katika hali mbaya. Hata katika mashule mapya, magari ni makuukuu. Yamezeeka na wakati wote yanaweza kuharibikia kwa barabara. Ningeomba sheria hii ihakikishe kwamba magari ambayo yanawabeba wanafunzi yako katika hali nzuri, sio kwa viti peke yake. Maafisa wa trafiki, wengi wao ambao wameharibu jina la polisi kwa jumla kwa sababu ya kuchukua hongo, wawe wakihakikisha kuwa magari hayo yako katika hali nzuri. Maafa mengi ambayo yanatokea katika nchi hii hayasababishwi na madereva peke yao, bali maofisa wa trafiki wanawachilia magari ambayo hayafai kabisa kuendeshwa katika barabara zetu. Pia, watu ambao wanatembea barabarani, wanafaa kuangalia maslahi yao na usalama wao. Hawafai kuvuka barabara kabla ya kuangalia kama kuna magari yanapita. Hapa nchini, madereva hawaheshimu wanaotembea. Katika nchi zingine, watu wakivuka barabara, magari yanasimama hata kama hakuna kivukio cha miguu. Kwa hivyo, wao pia wawe waangalifu. Nikimaliza, wazazi na walimu pia wako na jukumu la kuhakikisha kuwa wanafunzi wana usalama katika barabara. Inasikitisha sana kuona asubuhi mtoto aliye na miaka minne au mitatu akiwa amebebwa na mwingine ambaye yuko na miaka mitano wakienda shule. Wamemuacha mzazi kwa nyumba ama wanatoka shule na wamewaacha The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

walimu huko na wanaenda kuvuka barabara peke yao. Hawa ni watoto wadogo kabisa. Sisi kama jamii, tusiwache majukumu yote ya usalama wa watoto kwa Serikali. Tunafaa kuyabeba majukumu yetu ili tuhakikishe kuna usalama. Naunga mkono Mswada huu.

Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Muda, ningependa kuichukua fursa hii kukushukuru kwa kunipa nafasi hii ya kuchangia Mswada huu. Nitaanza kwa kumshukuru Mhe. Lekuton ambaye kwa wazo lake la burasa, ameuleta Mswada huu. Mswada huu unaelekea hasa kuangalia maswala ya usalama wa watoto wa shule. Ukiangalia baadhi ya mambo ambayo yamezungumziwa, Mswada huu unaangalia usalama wa baadhi ya watumiaji wa mahala tofauti tofauti Mheshimiwa Naibu Spika wa Muda, haswa ukiangalia Mswada wenyewe, unahimiza kuweko kwa baadhi ya vitu ambavyo vinaweza kutusaidia kupunguza maswala ya ajali. Mheshimiwa Naibu Spika wa Muda, Mswada huu ukiwa utapita - na ni matumaini yangu kwamba utapita - utaweza kutusaidia sisi kwanza kama wakaazi wa Kaloleni. Ukiangalia katika eneo ambalo ninawakilisha, bali tu na zile barabara zingine, kuna barabara mbili muhimu. Ya kwanza ikiwa ni ile ya kutoka maeneo ya Mariakani kuelekea Kaloleni ambapo karibu shule tano ziko karibu na barabara. Barabara hii ni muhimu sana kwa sababu inatumiwa na magari mengine ambayo hayawezi kuenda Mombasa ili kuepuka msongamano wa magari. Ukiangalia pia kuna baadhi ya makampuni ambayo yamejenga na yana magari makubwa sana. Tena kuna shule na ajali pia zimekuwa nyingi sana. Mheshimiwa Naibu Spika wa Muda, kwa hivyo ningependa kusema kwamba Mswada huu ni muhimu sana. Kuna baadhi ya mambo ambayo lazima tuyaangalie. Jambo la kwanza ambalo lazima tutazame ni mafunzo ya madereva. Utakuta kwamba asilimia 90 ya zile shule ambazo ni za kufundisha watu wetu jinsi ya kupeleka magari, yameandika kwa lugha ya Kimombo “ guaranteed pass.” Hii ni kuonyesha kwamba katika shule hizo, hakuna hata mtu moja ambayo ataanguka mtihani wa kuendesha gari. Mheshimiwa Naibu Spika wa Muda, pia ukiangalia sana utakuta kwamba kitu ambacho kinahitajika kwa mtu kuweza kupeleka gari ni kitambulisho chake cha kitaifa. Hakuna maswala ya kiwango cha elimu; ni kitambulisho cha taifa peke yake kinachohitajika. Unaanza kusoma na baada ya wiki tatu, umehitimu kuwa dereva. Cha kushangaza ni kwamba hakuna nafasi ya watu kuweza kupewa mafunzo mara kwa mara ndio waweze kukumbushwa baadhi ya yale mambo ambayo waliyasoma wakiwa shule. Mheshimiwa Naibu Spika wa Muda, kwa hivyo, nasisitiza kwamba tukiangalia marekebisho ambayo yatafanywa kwa hiyo sheria ya trafiki, ni muhimu pia kuangalia maswala ya mafunzo ya madereva. Mheshimiwa Naibu Spika wa Muda, jambo lingine ambalo ningependa pia kuliangazia ni kuhusu wale ambao wanahusika ama washikadau katika maswala ya trafiki. Kuna baadhi ya madereva ambao leo hii wanapeleka magari katika barabara zetu na baadhi yao labda kwa kupitia amri za mahakama, walipigwa marufuku miaka kadhaa kupeleka magari. Leo, watu hao wamepata zile tunaita copy za zile leseni zao na wako kwa barabara zetu na wanapeleka magari na watu hawajali. Mheshimiwa Naibu Spika wa Muda, kwa hivyo, kuna haja ya kwamba wale ambao wanahusika, haswa askari wanaohusika katika maswala ya trafiki, waangalie The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

swala hili. Katika kuangalia ulinzi wa watoto wetu shuleni, haswa kwa magari ya shule, ni muhimu pia zile shule ambazo huajiri madereva zikae chini na kukagua stakabadhi zao. Sio eti kwa sababu mimi nikiwa Mheshimiwa ama labda mwalimu mkuu wa shule amefanya mpango akapata gari, basi mtu yeyote anaweza kuajiriwa kuwa dereva, hivyo sio vizuri. Ni lazima kamati ambayo inahusika na mahojiano wahusishe idara inayohusika na usafiri ili wakague madereva hao. Wafanyiwe mtihani vizuri kabla ya kuruhusiwa kuendsha watoto wetu. Mheshimiwa Naibu Spika wa Muda, ikiwa mambo haya yote yataweza kuzingatiwa, utaona kwamba usalama wa watoto wetu kwa usafiri utaimarika. Kwa hayo maneno mengi, ningependa kuunga mkono Mswada huu.

(Hon. (Ms.) Shebesh): Asante sana, Mheshimiwa Gunga Chea. Member for Samburu West, hon. Lelelit Lati.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity. However, before I speak on this Bill, let me pay great tribute to this great man of Laisamis because he has been one of the most prolific Members of Parliament in the history of our country. In the last few years, hon. Lekuton has sponsored the Animal Technicians Bill, the Unclaimed Financial Assets Bill, the Mental Health Bill and now the Traffic (Amendment) Bill. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, more importantly, if you look at those Bills which this Member has brought to this House, sponsored and matured, they are Bills that go outside of our normal Bills depending on where we come from in our country. Usually, Bills that come from Members in pastoralist areas have to do with pastoralists’ activities. Those from sugar belt areas have things to do with sugar. If you look at those Members from the coastal strip of Kenya, they bring Bills to do with land. However, if you look at all those Bills by hon. Lekuton over the years, they are Bills that are truly Kenyan. They cover all aspects of Kenyan life and this one in particular is thinking outside the box. I would not expect any serious traffic for that matter in Laisamis Constituency unless it is camel traffic or that of sheep and goats. So, I want to commend the Member because this is truly being Kenyan – thinking for other Kenyans in general. So, I want to say thank you for this great effort of sponsoring several Bills to their maturity. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, this is a very important Bill because it helps one of the most vulnerable members of our society – people who are not represented in this House. Our Constitution has provided representation in this House in so many areas like gender, youth and everything else, but nobody is representing the kids of Kenya in any of our national legislative organs. So, for us, it is our duty and obligation to make sure that, like any other country in the world, our kids are taken care of. It depends on us to make sure that legislations that are passed in this House also go a long way to help them ease their lives, particularly when they are in school. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, in countries like the United States of America (USA), there are things that are very common. Probably, the commonest sight is the yellow school bus in the USA. There is reason that we have those buses that are common across all states, even though all states are supposed to make their own laws. They have accepted that simple rule to make sure that school buses are recognized across the USA because the yellow, red or amber colours are visible colours in traffic. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, just yesterday, incidentally with the sponsor of the Bill, we were walking from Continental House towards Parliament and crossing the notorious road between Parliament and Continental House. About three motorbikes were being driven on the opposite direction towards Uhuru Highway. We were almost overrun by those motorbikes yesterday and hon. Lekuton is sitting here sponsoring a Traffic Bill today. The most unfortunate thing is that those motorbikes were going in the opposite direction when not less than six policemen were at the gate of Parliament and they never bothered. It tells you how notorious traffic rules have been flouted in our country, and I think this Bill is timely. I hope other Members in this House will take initiative to come up with other Bills that will regulate traffic in the country. That is because I think traffic is one thing that we have messed up as a country. For those of us who have travelled for two or three days out of this country, one thing that you will see glaring at you is the difference in traffic management outside Kenya as compared to our own country. We have done very well in other aspects of life and I am just surprised why Kenyans are so notorious in flouting traffic rules. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, in my opinion, 30 kilometres per hour is even too fast. But this is a good start by the hon. Member. It also includes things like roads, signs and bumps; which are commendable. In countries like Australia, any approach to a school bus stop, leave alone a school, you have to slow to 40 kilometres per hour. In fact, in New Zealand, it is 20 kilometres an hour. Therefore, we are somewhere in between. It is important to know that this is around schools. We know that there are many children who walk across roads near schools. Thirty kilometres is a good start, but I think we need to do more. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the other thing that this Bill is trying to establish penalties for traffic offences. Penalties for exceeding speed limits range between Kshs10,000 to Kshs25,000 in fines. This is very small and people should know that you are risking lives when you drive too fast near facilities, especially where children are. A fine of Kshs10,000 is too small, but it is a good start. Finally, the other aspect that this Bill will establish is the safety of children in school buses. It is not just enough to make sure that the outside environment is safe for children when they cross roads. We are also required to make sure that buses that ferry school children have all the safety requirements for children. They must have door locks and windows are locked so that they cannot jump out. Children are different and they think in different ways. But also there must be seatbelts and drivers must be people of integrity; they should not be drunkards and people who do bad things in those buses. With those few remarks, I support.

(Hon. (Ms.) Shebesh): Let us hear from the Member for Kwanza Constituency; hon. Ferdinand Wanyonyi.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving this chance. I have been sitting here since the House started this morning waiting for this chance. I want to thank my colleague, the Mover of this Bill. This is a very ordinary Bill. To me this amendment is very timely because it is what we are seeing every day. For sure, motorists in Kenyans have very bad manners. Traffic rules are never respected and most of the incidents that have been cited in this House show how badly we behave on our roads. I do not know where we are going to get the remedy for this. But The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

for a fact, our drivers do not behave well on the roads. You will find a Zebra Crossing at the schools or hospitals, but motorist just pass without taking note of that. Of course, the excuse is that there is vandalism of sign posts. I am happy that this week we managed to pass a law on scrap metals. That may also deter people who remove sign posts from the roadsides. Above all, I have travelled as most people have travelled here. You will find that most of those institutions; whether it is a hospital, where there is Zebra Crossing, we have what they call a safety kite which carries up a road sign. If there are no sign posts, you will find somebody volunteering or a school employee with a sign to show that children are crossing. That is how we can save our children from risks. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I was in Japan recently and I saw that example. Somebody comes with a sign showing children crossing so that motorists can stop. But basically, we have a problem on our roads. The other day, I was travelling and I was following a school bus. I could not believe my eyes. In fact, I drove ahead of the bus hoping to catch up with the traffic police on the road and accuse that driver because children were actually hanging on the windows. My security officer told me that some of them were dancing in the bus because there was loud music in the bus. That meant, whoever was in that vehicle, I supposed there must have been a teacher or, at least, somebody from the school, plus the driver---Allowing children to dance in the school bus is very normal, but allowing children to hang out on the windows is very dangerous. In a normal Kenyan society; there is something amiss. Therefore, something must be done. Earlier on, somebody mentioned that we may need to have road safety media awareness on the national media; either on the radio or television. This mode will remind our people that some of those deaths we see on our roads are our own creation. There is no school bus that can go from here to Machakos or to Mombasa without a teacher or school matron and yet, we see that kind of behaviour on our roads. We have seen so many of those incidents. The other thing I wanted to mention is that roads that are being constructed to date--- I wish the Vice-Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Transport, Public Works and Housing could listen! That is Eng. Mahamud. As hon. Mahamud walks out, I want to say that there could be road constructions today in Kenya or elsewhere in developed countries as Kenya is equally developed, but we should have at least, a lane for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists. I have seen that elsewhere. Provisions are there and as we construct roads in this country, we should have a lane specifically for motorcycles. If you go to Thika Road, you will find that we have a problem. We have provision for footbridges, but somebody takes a shortcut by running across the main highway. Of course, most of our children you seen around are accompanied. You will see a parent; either a mother with a child from school carrying books and running across the road instead of crossing using the footbridges provided. I have seen that and I am sure most hon. Members of Parliament from that side know that it is a very high risky area. You see a parent pulling three children across the road. That is bad manners. When you are involved in an accident, who do you blame? That is exactly what is happening. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I have seen in my own area in Trans-Nzoia a parent giving boda boda rider money to take children to school and he carries six The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

children. Some of them sit on the tank of the motorcycle and the rider has been given Kshs200 to take the children to school. This is bad manners. We should do something by disciplining ourselves. You will find a motorcycle carrying school children while playing loud music. I do not know what has happened to this Kenya of ours. We are to blame and it is bad manners on the roads. Lastly, but not least, I want to say that gates to schools are where most accidents occur. In my area, although there are earth roads, I have insisted that the headmaster of the school employs somebody to be in-charge when the children are crossing the road, so that motorcycles do not knock them down. The so-called bumps on the roads are not the best. They contribute to the accidents on the roads because sometimes they are erected overnight and there is no sign to show that there is a bump in front of you. You just find yourself rolling over a bump which is even more dangerous.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to thank my brother for bringing this amendment but when we come to the Third Reading, we may have to work on it so that we can insert some proposals. For penalties, we should standardize them for offenders even if we have corruption. I can tell you for sure that one motorcycle rider was arrested in my place. The father came to me and the child was hardly 18 years old. He asked me to bail the son out of the police station but I refused because he did not have a driver’s licence. The motorcycle was also not insured and he had knocked down somebody. At the Third Reading stage, we may have to add other amendments so that we can teach our people manners on the road. Our people are not well behaved on the road.

I support this amendment.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. Members, this Bill touches the representation of all hon. Members in this House.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to also support the Traffic (Amendment) Bill. I know that it is what we see day in, day out. Accidents are all over and you wonder why all this is happening when we want to be safe at all times. Many a times, most of the accidents are manmade because we lack due diligence; the drivers, the school management operating the buses and the parents who have a role in this game. As we ensure that this amendment goes through, we need to ensure that people adhere to the regulations so that we can ensure our safety for us and our children because all of us are prone to accidents.

I am a victim and this morning I was forced to take a motorbike but it was good because he told me to put on a reflective jacket and helmet. I was where I was supposed to be at 7.00 a.m. safely using the motorbike because the traffic jam on our roads was chaotic this morning. So, I thank that person because he had everything and he assisted me to be where I wanted to be.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): I am sure you wanted to be in Parliament.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, yes. Let me tell you that we need to overhaul the training of our drivers, for school buses, matatus and motorcycles, so that they are enlightened on the new advancements. They need to be told to observe traffic lights on our roads. Sometimes as you are at a zebra crossing, you expect motorbikes to stop, but they do not. They miss running over pedestrians. As we support this amendment Bill, we want to ensure there are more skills for drivers. People who The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

take our children to school need to have listening skills, patience and they need to be taught how to manage their stress and emotions. Some of those employed do not have time to rest and so with their emotions, instead of being attentive to what they are doing, they get carried away. Another thing that is happening on our roads with the buses and minibuses that are carrying pupils to school is that most of them are rejects. They have been rejected from their various routes. They are not up to date but schools allow them to carry their students. Even parents get together to pay the owners of those bad vehicles to carry their children to school. I think this is our responsibility as parents to ensure that the vehicles that take our children to school are good and up to standard. Since we are parents and we need to bring them up in the right way, we have to ensure that they are safe. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, another thing as far as we are struggling to ensure that traffic rules are adhered to, is the institutions that have been entrusted with the enforcement of the rules. Most of them sometimes are compromised. They are manipulated. So, what are we going to do as a House to ensure that those people adhere to the rules and do the right thing? I support the amendment Bill.

Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Muda, nashukuru kwa fursa hii. Naamka kuunga mkono Mswada huu. Kwa kweli, kudhibiti mwendo wa kasi kwa magari ni jambo mwafaka kabisa maanake ajali nchini mwetu zimekuwa nyingi mno. Ukiangalia ulimwengu mzima, kwa sasa hivi tuko nambari 22 kwa nchi zenye ajali nyingi ilihali tukiangalia idadi yetu yote ni watu kama 40 milioni na China ina watu zaidi ya 1.5 bilioni lakini ajali zao ni kidogo sana. Nampongeza hon. Lekuton kwa kuleta huu Mswada na ingekuwa vyema pia katika shule zetu na taasisi za Serikali waweke matatu kwa barabara ambazo zinaweza kudhibiti mwendo wa kasi. Vile vile wangeweka vivukio kwa shule zetu hasa za msingi maanake ajali hapa nchini zimeongezeka sana. Watu wengi wamechangia huu Mswada na ninaona yale waliochangia yanaambatana na singependelea kuyarejelea. Nasimama tena kuunga mkono huu Mswada.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): What is happening to the other side of the House? I cannot see any request from that side. Is hon. Tonui in the House?

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, before I say one or two things, first let me congratulate my friend and colleague, hon. Lekuton, for having come up with this timely amendment to the Traffic Act.

I would like to start by saying that children will always be children. Whenever they are, in whatever country they are, children will always be children. They will always play, experiment and they will want to innovate. So, it behooves us as the elders and the parents to make sure that children are safe. This Amendment Bill, to me is very timely because my constituency of Likuyani borders the busy road from Eldoret to Kitale. We have so many schools by the side of the road. We have many markets and what we have observed over a period of time is that there are many accidents involving school going children in centers like Soy, Nangili, Matunda and Moi’s Bridge. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

I am saying this because it is very important. This Bill really touches my heart directly because we have lost so many children and a number have been maimed in these markets. As one of the amendments, we would like these restrictions around schools and hospitals to be equally applied around market places so that we have very clear signs, Zebra crossings, and very clear bumps on the roads. Secondly, as my colleagues have said, it is extremely important that our school buses should have one colour and they should not travel at night. I think it is extremely important. That is something that we need to emphasise because most of the drivers in these buses are fairly reckless. Like I said initially, children will always be children. Whenever they are in these buses they will enjoy that excitement of speed and to them it is a joy when buses overtake other vehicles. They do not know that this speed that thrills is the speed that kills. So, school buses should not travel at night. Secondly, we have a lot of problems with boda boda riders in this country. Most of them hardly get any training. One of the things that we need to do in this House is to make it mandatory to have boda boda riders undergo training. I think it is there in the Traffic Act but it is never adhered to, that boda boda riders just like any other people driving on our roads should be properly trained. They should be licensed, dress appropriately in reflective jackets and helmets et cetera. Finally, as we try to make sure that our children are safe and all of us are safe in our roads, we should not forget to pay tribute to the late Michuki and I will always remember him. He is the one leader in this country who brought sanity on our roads when he came up with the so-called ‘Michuki rules’. That is something that has helped us. It has helped reduce accidents on our roads. Therefore, I will take this special time to pay tribute to the late hon. Michuki for the good work that he did and urge the other people who have come after him to follow his example. I know others who came immediately after him floundered a bit but I think Engineer Kamau is trying to do his best to make sure that our roads are safe yet again. With those remarks, I beg to support.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): You beg to support. Thank you, hon. Member. Hon. Zainabu Chidzuga, Member for Kwale County, the Floor is yours.

Asante sana, Madam. Spika. Nasimama kuunga mkono huu Mswada. Kwanza ninampongeza Mhe. mwenzetu kwa kutuletea huu mjadala ulio wa maana sana katika taifa hili letu, maana ni wa kuokoa maisha. Tukiwa tunachangia huu mjadala, ni lazima tuangalia na pia tujiulize hata hizi ajali zikitokea, kuna shida gani? Haswa ningezungumzia kuhusu ujenzi wetu wa barabara. Ukiangalia barabara zetu, hazina sehemu zimetengwa hususan kwa watu wanaotumia pikipiki. Ningeomba Wizara inayohusika, tunavyoendelea na ujenzi mpya wa barabara zetu au ukarabati, waweze kutilia maanani ili tuweze kuwa na sehemu ambazo waendeshaji boda boda wataweza kuzitumia. Naibu Spika wa Muda, kuna matuta mengi yaliyo katika barabara zetu lakini huwezi kuyatambua maana hayatambuliki. Yanastahili kuwa na rangi maalum ambayo, ukiwa mbali unaweza kujua, pale kweli pana tuta ili uweze kupunguza mwendo. Katika The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

hali hiyo, unakuta ajali zinatokea maana, mtu atakuja kwa kasi bila kujua kwamba, pale kuna tuta na mwishowe gari lake linatatisika ama kuvunjika. Katika huu ujenzi wa barabara, katika sehemu zetu za mashambani, utashangaa ya kwamba, upana wa barabara ni ule ule tangu wakati wa ukoloni ambapo, pengine ni gari moja tu lililokuwa linapita katika barabara hiyo. Barabara hiyo ni nyembamba sana. Wakati wa mvua, inakuwa mbaya zaidi maana, barabara yenyewe vile ilivyolimwa, ina mavumbi hapo katikati. Gari linapaswa kupita katikati ya ile barabara. Likitokea gari lingine ama pikipiki, kupishana ni vigumu. Mwisho unaingia ndani ya mtaro ama mgongane. Tunaomba ujenzi wa barabara uangaliwe zaidi. Pia, tukizungumzia mifereji ya kutoa maji machafu kwa barabara, ninashangaa hao waandisi wetu kule nyanjani wanafanya kazi gani; haswa katika Kaunti ya Kwale. Utapata kwamba anayeweka mfreji wa maji machafu barabarani anafanya kazi duni sana. Anauweka huo mfreji juu sana kiwango kwamba gari likipita katika hiyo barabara linauvunja. Ule mkorogo wa simiti uliowekwa pale uko juu ya ile barabara kiwango cha kwamba, anayekuja na gari lake, hata kama haji kwa mwendo wa kasi, gari lake litavunjikia pale palipokuwa na ule mfreji. Hii ni kwa sababu huo mfreji haukuwekwa na ujuzi ila tu, uliwekwa ili watu wapate pesa. Kuna ufisadi mwingi sana katika ujenzi wa barabara ambao pia unachangia katika kusababisha ajali. Kwa upande wa boda boda, ni ombi langu kwa Serikali Kuu ione kwamba, wale wanaofunza madereva wetu wa pikipiki, waweze kurudishwa katika maeneo yetu ya makaunti, ili vijana wetu waweze kusomeshwa ama kuenda katika vituo vya mafunzo wakiwa karibu, kwa maana hawana pesa na wanaitaka ile kazi ya boda boda. Lakini kwa sababu kuna mahali huduma ya boda boda inahitajika wakubaliwe kuendesha pikipiki. Kwa mfano, kwetu sisi kule Kwale Kaunti, inamlazimu mtu aende Mombasa. Inabidi, wale vijana wajifundishe vichochoroni na mwishowe wanachukua pikipiki na wanasababisha ajali kwa sababu hawajui sheria za barabarani.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. Chidzuga, I have an intervention from hon. Member for Budalangi Constituency.

Hon.Temporary Deputy Speaker, I apologise for interrupting my very good sister, hon. Chidzuga. I just wanted this House to note for the record that for the first time in the history of this Parliament, debate is going on with the right hand side of the hon. Speaker absolutely empty. What a time for us to debate and pass some far- reaching reformist transformational Motions and Bills in this House when the other side is completely empty! I just wanted it to be noted for the record, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, that the entire Jubilee membership has abandoned the House.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Thank you for your observation, hon. Ababu Namwamba. It is noted. There is intervention from hon. Simba Arati. Is there anything that is out of order? Is there any information that you want to give?

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, following what my colleague has just said; it is only a concern. I know there is lack of leadership from the Jubilee side and that is why we believe, with good reasons, that they have left the House. They have started poaching in the backyard of the Coalition of Reforms and Democracy (CORD). It is absurd that in today’s session, you see there is no Member except the bottles of water that had been given to them. We would want direction because, as my colleague has just The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

said, this is a House of records. We may want to know whether Members from Jubilee side are safe or what is happening. Have they resigned from the House because, indeed, we have seen that hon. Nkaissery, who was an ODM Member, is now in-charge of their docket?

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Thank you for your observation although we need to know that we are free to sit any side of the House in the 11th Parliament. Let us carry on. Hon. Chidzuga, carry on.

Mheshimiwa Naibu Spika wa Muda, nilikuwa nikizungumzia waendeshaji boda boda. Ni jukumu letu kuhakikisha kwamba sheria za barabarani zinaheshimiwa. Mara nyinyi sisi wananchi tunatazama tu boda boda mmoja akibeba zaidi ya watu watatu, wanne ama watano. Ni kweli tunataka vijana wetu wapate pesa lakini polisi wa trafiki nao wanaangalia nini? Ajali inapotokea na watu kufariki, unakuta badala ya kufa mmoja, ingawa hatuombei wafe, watakufa sita na hiyo inatokana na uzembe uliyoko katika upande wetu wa trafiki.

On a point of order, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. Ferdinand Wanyonyi, if it is a point of order, it has been raised by hon. Ababu Namwamba about the sitting; occupancy of the other side, I will not allow it because it has been said once and again. What is out of order?

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I am very concerned by the point of order raised by hon. Namwamba. I was suggesting that the Division Bell be rung so that these Members can come to the House to debate. We cannot actually talk to empty benches.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): That is not how to do it, hon. Fernidand Wanyonyi. Thank you. Let us carry on. Hon. Chidzuga, can you finish your contribution? You cannot ring the Division Bell if you have not raised the issue of lack of quorum. Let us also get back to our Standing Orders, hon. Members. When we want to present our issues, rules and procedures in the House should be followed.

Kumalizia ninaomba kuunga mkono huu Mswada na yale yote tuliyoyazungumza hapa ama tuliyojadili yaweze kutiliwa maanani. Kwa wale ambao wanahusika pia waweze kuyasikia na kuyatilia maanani tuone vile ambavyo tunaweza kuokoa maisha ama pia kuokoa vijana wetu katika ajali zile ambazo zinaendelea katika barabara zetu. Naunga mkono huu mjadala. Thank you very much.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. Nyikal, Member for Seme.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me opportunity to talk at this great moment when there is absolutely nobody on the Government side. This is an extremely important Amendment Bill. I appreciate the work of the hon. Member who has brought it. I want to make emphasis that as we look at the issue of children, one must always realise that in the society at large whenever you take care of children, you will to a large The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

extent take care of most of the people in the society. Therefore, when they are talking of the road safety and the safety of children in schools, we really must look at the general issue of road safety. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I would like to start by saying that the first point that we need to look at is the design and engineering of the roads, if you are looking at road safety.

As other Members have said, when we design roads, we design them for motorists only. We do not realise that many other people use the roads. There are pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. We should take this opportunity to realise that when roads are done, whether they are in towns or highways, we should take care of all these and put footpaths for pedestrians. We should also put motor bicycle lanes, so that everybody is catered for. That will to a very large extent increase the safety that is required not only for the children, but for everybody. At the same time, we must put all the required safety measures on the roads, namely, the bumps, rumble strips and the signs. We should also mark the lanes. It makes a huge difference if you travel on a road which is properly marked and one that is not marked at all. I do not think it costs much more and yet it will contribute to a very large extent to road safety. We have noticed that even within town, we have traffic lights, but we do not know whether these traffic lights are still being used. I know that Traffic Police officers help in the flow of traffic, but there should be some synchrony between the police directing the traffic and the traffic lights. Most Kenyans, at least, in this City, have forgotten the traffic light rules. That is something that we need to look at. The other important thing is the education of the public. If you look at how we use our roads, even pedestrians do not follow traffic rules. Worst of all, are our drivers. At one time, we attempted to enforce the provision that drivers should be retrained. When we renew licences, there should be some test because if you look at many drivers driving in front of you, it is clear that they do not know the traffic rules at all. People have argued in the past that it will probably just be another way of enhancing corruption. We have reached a time that we need to look at people who have driving licences. We really need to retest many people. I know this is a brave thing to say, but seeing what is happening, we need to do something. The focus on schools in this Bill is extremely commendable. Focusing on speeds, roads, road signs, bumps and rumble strips around schools and other learning institutions is extremely appropriate. That has been canvassed a lot by other Members. However, there is one more point that I would like to bring about particularly in this City and other towns. This basically touches on the physical planning in towns. Many of you may have realised that when schools are closed, the traffic congestion is much reduced. This means that when we plan our residential areas, we do not plan with schools in mind. I do not see why, if we have planning departments, we should have schools near highways or main roads. Schools, to a large extent, should be within residential areas. It is quite easy to plan that an estate of this size will definitely need a school and have the schools there. We do not even need to have school buses. If we planned our residential areas and have schools to serve them, then we do not need to transport the children. In many parts of the world, you do not see buses except in the United States of America, The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

where the origin was the racial issue where they had school buses so that children could go to similar schools. That is the origin of that in the 1960. With proper planning, children can walk to school from their houses. That is something that we must look at. As I finish, with regard to the enforcement of the laws on speeding and overloading, it is amazing when you see Traffic Police officers on the road and what is happening in front of you. I do not think we really enforce this. I know that very stiff penalties and harsh measures are being taken, but we are not enforcing the laws as they are. With that, I support this Amendment Bill.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I much recognize the importance of this Motion and I stand to support it. I am also wondering whether we are not repeating ourselves and whether we have not exhaustively debated this Motion. We could get a response and move on to the next Motion for the remaining half an hour.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. (Ms.) Musyoka, hon. Member for Machakos County, refer to the Standing Orders. You can trace the issue on the Standing Order and I will give you the chance to do it. There is a way to handle your concern on repetition. I have nine other requests; it is important to understand this. Last week when I was presiding over the House, hon. Members wanted to contribute but when the Mover was called upon to reply, all hon. Members said they wanted to contribute. So, it is up to hon. Members.

That is what I wanted, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I am rising to support this Amendment Bill. I want to thank hon. Lekuton for bringing it up because it is talking about issues of traffic that are very close to our hearts and our people. It is so sad that when such a debate is being dispensed of in the House, the Jubilee Coalition which is the ruling Coalition has run away and has left the CORD Coalition to discuss and make this very important Bill for Kenyans. Very many issues have been discussed on this Bill about erecting bumps and the focus has been on our children for whom we represent and support. I would like to say that it is very important to erect these bumps and the bumps we are erecting must be done by people who have the knowhow; people who are trained; our engineers. The Government and the departments concerned have neglected this duty and most of the time it is done by villagers because of the accidents that are occurring every now and then. Nobody from the concerned department is showing up. In very many market centers, you will find that there are very many accidents happening and nobody comes to arrest the situation. Wananchi are forced to do the job themselves. At Matayos Shopping Center in Busia County where very many accidents occur, wananchi have come up to erect bumps on their own, without following the regulations that are there. We would like to have road signs also to show where hospitals and schools are. We even want to ask the Mover of the Motion to probably see how we can include markets and trading centers to be considered specifically for the speed limits and for the bumps. There should be strict regulations regarding buses that are ferrying our children to and from schools. Drivers should be well trained and they should have undergone a curriculum that has been approved. This curriculum should be designed by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) and it should be approved. It should not be The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

a case of people just moving to a driving school and coming out with a licence every time.

So, the issue of curriculum, the issue of syllabus for driving should be very important. For our boda bodas, I am very proud to say that boda boda itself has its origin in Busia County. The word “ boda boda” comes from the English word “border” meaning boundary. This is where it came from. Now it is an activity that has spread all over the country. It is a very important economic activity. It is helping our young men and women to gain employment. We must protect it and we want to ask the Government to come up with a training levy for the boda boda s: A fund that will help them get training so that anybody who has a boda boda on the road is somebody who has gone through a training designed by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) in this country.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the traffic department of this country must also go out to educate the public on the road use and on the safety of our roads. They should even go as far as into our educational institutions to teach us, to teach Kenyans, on how best to use our roads. The traffic officers, for instance, should not only just stick on the roads, wait for bribes and clear everybody who is going across the road simply because they have paid them a bribe. They should go out. People do not know how to use roads and the safety regulations that they are supposed to have. We should also have road inspectors: People to inspect our roads to ensure that they are in good condition. We have very many bridges in this country which have their rails or guards probably destroyed or damaged and it has taken long before they have been put back. For example, on the Yala River on your way from Busia to Kisumu and also the Sio River still on Busia to Kisumu Highway, the bridge guards were damaged over a year ago and nobody from the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA) has bothered to have them put in place. The road inspectors are very important to ensure that we have our roads in proper condition. I should suggest that alongside the footbridges, we have not thought about the disabled of this country. I have seen one on Mombasa Road where we have one ramp. We have one footbridge which is a ramp for the disabled but on most of the roads, we do not have any. That should also be considered so that when we reach an area where you should cross using a footbridge for the people who have all their walking organs then the disabled should also have a ramp which they should use to cross over these highways. With that hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I support.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. Members, I have ten requests and I hope the requests are to debate the same Bill. Looking at your Standing Orders No.106, let us try to avoid irrelevance and repetition as stated by hon. (Ms.) Musyoka and again the observation in the event that you want the Mover to be called, there is a procedure. So I want to assume the ten requests that we have are for discussing the same. The work of hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker is to moderate the House. There is a point of order by hon. (Eng.) Gumbo. What is out of order?

On a point of order, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I am aware of that, of course, you said there are ten requests but honestly I have been sitting and listening to this Motion and with all due respect to my colleagues, a lot of contributions appear to be repetitive. Will I be in order to request that the Mover be called upon to reply? The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

(hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): As I said, the work of the hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker is to moderate debate in the House. Hon. Member for Rarieda is requesting for the Mover to be called upon to reply. Hon. Members you take a vote.

It is you to decide. I have ten requests and I want to put the Question that the Mover be called upon to reply.

I now call upon the Mover, hon. Lekuton, to reply. You have 45 minutes. This is a House of rules and procedures. So, you will not be in a position to donate your time since debate was prematurely closed.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I will only take only two minutes. So, I can accord hon. Ottichilo some time to move his own Bill. I would like to thank the Members for supporting this Bill. They have seen the importance of this Bill and the fact that it is going to help our children. It is going to save lives. I remember when I started talking to the Committee on Transport, Public Works and Housing, I had a lot of doubters including hon. Naicca, the Member for Mumias East. But they have come back to their senses and have realised that we need to make changes in our country. We need to move forward as a society. We need to understand that children are important. We also need to understand that we have to save lives for our GDP, our health services and the bills that we incur. We need to understand that we have to be a nation of laws. With those few words, I would like to thank the Committee. I appreciate the Members of the Committee on Transport, Public Works and Housing and the Members of this House for supporting this Bill.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Next Order! Hon. Members, before we move to the next Order, I will not be able to put the Question after the Mover has replied. I order that the Question be put in the next sitting at the most appropriate time. Now we can go to the next Order.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Order No. 9 is the Motion by hon. (Dr.) Ottichilo. Hon. Members, we have an amendment to the Motion by hon. (Eng.) Gumbo Member for Rarieda Constituency. I call upon him to move his amendment.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I wish from the outset, to thank hon. Wilbur Ottichilo who, in my view, is a blessing to this country in terms of the depth of knowledge that he has brought both to the Tenth and the Eleventh Parliaments. He is very incisive, well researched, highly academic and very educative in the Motions and Bills that he has brought to this House. I beg to move that the Motion be amended as follows:- (i) By inserting the following words in the ninth line immediately after the words “solar energy” “noting that Australia which hosts the United Nations International Energy Agency has terminated the development of any nuclear energy” (ii) Inserting the following words immediately after the word “Government” and before the word “nuclear”, “shifts its attention from the development”. (iii) By deleting the words “stops any further investment in the development”. Therefore the Motion as amended will read as follows:- THAT, aware that the Kenya Nuclear Electricity Board (KNEB) was created and tasked with spearheading the development of a nuclear energy in the country; deeply concerned that the construction and maintenance of a nuclear plant is a highly technical, expensive and risky undertaking that potentially exposes a country to the threat of nuclear radiation and the challenge of disposal of radioactive nuclear waste; further aware that due to these inherent risks in nuclear energy production, many of the developed countries like Germany, India, Japan and South Africa, amongst others have increasingly embarked on the systematic shut-down of their nuclear plants and instead are promoting the development of clean renewable energy, especially wind and solar energy; and noting that Australia which hosts the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency has terminated the development of any nuclear energy; this House resolves that the Government shifts its attention from The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

the development of nuclear energy and instead invests in the development of renewable or green energy which is safe and abundant in the country.

Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the reason for moving this amendment, as I have stated when moving my amendment is that, I personally feel that as a country, we need to increase our production of energy. However as we do that, we have to do it in a way that is safe and takes cognizance of the fact that we are still largely a developing country. If you look at the energy policy which we have discussed at the Committee level - both the Energy Policy and the Draft Energy Bill will be coming to this House soon - it has been proposed to take cognizance of our development blueprint, which is Vision 2030. The vision aims to transform Kenya into a newly industrialised middle income country providing high quality of life to all its citizens in a clean and secure environment. The Vision 2030 has identified energy as a key foundation and proposed the use of nuclear energy for purposes of electricity generation in the Draft Nuclear Energy Bill and the Draft Energy Policy. Clearly, if the Motion was to be adopted in its original form, then some of the ramifications would be, for instance, the drastic amendments to the proposed Energy Policy and the proposed Energy Bill. In the amended form, the message we are sending out there is that all the processes that are in place, such as exploring the possibility of deploying nuclear energy in Kenya, can go on. However, even as we go on with those processes, it is important that as a country, we emphasise more on the renewable energy which is in abundance in Kenya. As the Chair may be aware, only the day before yesterday, the Treasury signed for the start of one of the largest wind energy contracts in Africa. This is the Lake Turkana wind power project. As we speak, there are projections that from our geothermal resources, we are embarking on a process to generate a further 210 Megawatts from Geothermal resources. These contracts have been signed with the Geothermal Development Company of Kenya. Of course, I have said it before clearly one of the ironies of our country is that it is sitting on the equator. In fact, Kenya is perhaps the only country which sits equidistantly; almost equally. There is an abundance of solar and sunshine. Every square metre in Kenya can generate up to one kilowatt of solar energy and so that is the irony. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is ironical because even as we speak, the generation from solar is almost insignificant. I do not think it has even reached 40 megawatts. If you compare that with temperate countries like Germany - I am privileged to have visited Germany early in the year – you will be surprised. The surface area of Germany is just about 60 per cent the surface area of Kenya which is 583 square kilometers, which is also temperate. But as we speak Germany generates up to 36,000 megawatts from solar. It is quite ironical. Indeed, the opportunity for exploiting the available renewable energy resources that we have is there. Therefore, I think it is important that as we move ahead with this Motion, we give the Kenya Nuclear Electricity Board (KNEB) the opportunity to continue undertaking the studies that they are doing. Clearly the risks with nuclear energy are there. Of course, one would argue that over time you have had largely three major nuclear accidents in the world; the three islands incident in the 70s, the Chernobyl and of The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

course the Fukushima which happened a few years ago but there are several nuclear energy incidents that are not reported. The biggest problem of all is what to do with the nuclear waste. I think it is a worthwhile process but it is a process that we have to embark on with extreme caution, being cognizant of the fact that one of the most emotive issues in Kenya today still remains the issue of land. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is for this reason that I am proposing this amendment; that we go ahead to adopt the Motion in that amended form so that we can carry on with the programmes we are doing, but put more emphasis on the renewable and greener aspects of energy. With those remarks, I wish to move the amendment and ask my colleague, my neighbour, my friend, hon. (Prof.) Nyikal, to second. I thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. (Prof.) Nyikal to second the amendment to the Motion.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to second the amendment that has been moved by Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo. Obviously, nuclear technology has provided the most reliable source of power and the most carbon free source of power. But that is not the only use of nuclear technology. Nuclear technology is also used a lot in medicine, in biotechnology itself. Be that as it may, we are all aware that there are a lot of problems that are associated with nuclear technology itself. The dangers that hon. Members indicated, of accidents and medical issues that arise from it, are long lasting. Many years after, you will find children born with defects when you have such incidents. When nuclear technology is used in the medical field without proper control, you will still have a problem. Even the disposal of nuclear waste is an extremely difficult process even in developed countries. And for that reason many countries are actually shifting away from nuclear technology as a source of power. As I said, it is important to know that there are other uses. As a country, this is a technology that we cannot just discard. As people move into other ways of generating power, there will be other uses of nuclear technology. So, if we stop the process completely, we will be obviously disadvantaged as a nation in the area of technology and other uses, not just power.

Therefore, it is important that as we shift our supply to other healthier means of supply like solar and wind energy, we must retain some research in nuclear technology. This is a principle that is known in many other areas. If you take, for example, in medicine where there are diseases that we have eliminated such as Smallpox, there are still Smallpox viruses that are being kept for purposes of research. For that reason, I second the amendment that we do not end, but shift. With that, I second.

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Hon. Members, these are the amendments. We will, as per the rules and procedures, debate the amendments. When the Question is put and agreed to, we will debate the Motion by hon. Ottichilo as amended. In the event we negate the amendments by hon. Gumbo, we will debate the Motion as moved by hon. Ottichilo.

Do I put the Question? The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.

Yes.

Hon. Members, the amendment is taken. Therefore, we are going to debate the Motion by hon. Ottichilo as amended. I want to give a chance to hon. Susan Musyoka, Member for Machakos County.

Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I stand to support this Motion as amended. I thank Dr. Ottichilo for coming up with this Motion because it is a very important one. It is high time we moved into developing our own green energy in Kenya. So much work has been done all over the world and we realise that we have abundance of sand, solar energy, wind, geothermal and hydro energy in Kenya. It is important that we go into green production of energy at full blast. When we look at our technical institutions and also our---

(Hon. (Ms.) Mbalu): Thank you. Hon. (Dr.) Susan Musyoka, Member for Machakos County, you will have nine minutes in the next sitting when we will be debating the same. So, you will be able to use your nine minutes. The time being 1.00 p.m., this House stands adjourned until this afternoon at 2.30 p.m. I thank you all. The Hose rose at 1.00 p.m. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor.