Hon. Members, we are just short of the required quorum. Therefore, I order that the Bell be rung for 10 minutes.
Now we have quorum. Members, kindly take your seats.
The Leader of the Majority Party.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to lay the following Papers on the Table of the House: Quarterly Economic and Budgetary Review (First Quarter) for the Financial Year 2017/2018 from the National Treasury; Commissioners’ Exit Report (Laying the Foundation for Administrative Justice in Kenya Six Years Later) from the Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman); The Biannual Report of the Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman) for the period January-June 2017; The Reports of the Auditor-General on the financial statements in respect of the following institutions for the year ended 30th June 2015 and the certificates therein: (a) Lake Victoria South Water Services Board; (b) National Drought Management Authority; (c) Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology; (d) Nzoia Sugar Company Limited; (e) Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Digital Television Coverage Rollout Project (DVBTYT2 platform); and (f) Kenya Ports Authority. The Reports of the Auditor-General on the financial statements in respect of the following constituencies for the year ended 30th June 2016, and the certificates therein: (a) Kibwezi West; (b) North Imenti; 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.
(c) Runyenjes; (d) South Imenti; (e) Kilome; (f) Mandera East; (g) Igembe North; (h) Buuri; (i) Kuresoi South; and (j) Maragwa.
Very well. Next Order.
I see Hon. Chepkut: do you have a notice of Motion? Proceed and prosecute it.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to give notice of the following Motion:
THAT, aware that Article 42 of the Constitution accords every person the right to a clean and healthy environment and that Article 69(1)(d) mandates the State to encourage public participation in the management, protection and conservation of the environment; further aware that deforestation is one of the main contributors to climate change; noting that Kenya has not been spared by the effects of global warming and climate change as a result of deforestation amongst other aspects; deeply concerned that this has already adversely affected the agricultural sector which is the backbone of the rural economy and also lead to severe drought being experienced in all parts of this country, this House urges the Government to introduce compulsory tree planting programmes in all learning institutions and individual households. Thank you.
Next order.
Is this the Motion by Hon. Melly? Is he in the House? Yes, I can see him.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. First of all I would like to congratulate the Kenyan populace and the whole country for the work well done yesterday and our President starting his new term as the President of this Republic. My Motion is…
I believe that was a preamble of a different thing. Now move the Motion.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. My Motion seeks to designate service lanes for emergencies on our highways. 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.
You need to move the Motion before you prosecute it. I know you are an old hand in that. Just move the Motion.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move the following Motion: THAT, aware that the capacity of highways and urban roads in the country is increasingly unable to cope with ever-increasing vehicle traffic, particularly in cities and urban centres, resulting into traffic congestion and snarl-ups; noting that these traffic congestions have resulted into serious inconveniences and wastage to motorists, heavy economic losses in terms of work hours and fuel consumption in traffic jams; concerned that these roads and highways lack dedicated lanes for use by emergency vehicles such as police, ambulances, fire engines and other such vehicles in emergency situations; cognisant of the fact that lack of dedicated lanes have many times led to loss of lives when emergency vehicles are not able to get smooth passage ways due to traffic congestion, this House urges the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, through the Kenya Urban Roads Authority and the Kenya Highways Authority, to designate service lanes for emergency vehicles along the urban roads and highways throughout the country. This Motion tries to look at issues that affect Kenyans in everyday life. If you look at our city here today, ambulances, police vehicles and fire engines have difficulty responding to emergency situations. I have seen instances, especially in the evening or during rush hours, where ambulances hoot and sirens blare in clogged up roads when they want to take a patient to hospital. A number of patients have succumbed to their illness on these roads because the roads are at times narrow or clogged up; they cannot even allow a service provider to rush to the hospital to save the life of a patient. So I am looking at it in such a way that each and every road…. If you go to developed economies in Asia and Europe and even in this part of the world like in South Africa, you will realise that certain lanes have been designated as service lanes. You will find that ambulances going to the Nairobi Hospital, MP Shah Hospital or any other hospital are stuck in jam for hours. Even if the motorists want to give way, there is no way they can assist. So I am suggesting that we develop a policy that establishes these lanes to be used expressly only by emergency service providers. At times in this city, fire has erupted yet the national Government has fire engines and can quickly respond to that. However, just because of traffic jams and a clogged up road system, they reach their designated areas one to two hours later when houses have already been razed down and millions of shillings have been lost yet this country could have saved that by just having a designated area. I am proposing that these designated roads should not be used even if we have traffic snarl ups and congestion. Any motorist who shall be found using these roads should be penalised so that they remain open throughout the day. They should also be designed in such a way that they will assist Kenyans in case of any problem. I have seen instances where emergencies have occurred and the police want to respond quickly but because of traffic jams they get stuck on the road all through yet they would have saved a life, stopped a robbery and any other bad incident if we had designated roads. This has cost this country losses in terms of lives, time and foreign earnings because our capital is the hub in East and Central Africa. Many businessmen and corporates would like to work in countries where there is easy movement of traffic to and from the airports and to the designated areas. However, to move from one point of the city to another is quite difficult especially for emergency services. In Kenya for example, we have many Kenyans who go to India and other parts of the world for medication. However, Africans from Tanzania, Uganda, 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.
DRC and other parts of this region come to Nairobi for medication because it is a bit advanced. However, after arriving in the country; for example, to get a patient from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to Nairobi Hospital, Aga Khan or any other health facility takes a hell of time. So, this particular Motion is trying to address issues that are going to save this country in terms of foreign exchange. This is because many nations do not even try to go to South Africa… In this region, Kenya has advanced infrastructural development. Another example is South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria in West Africa. We should maintain our lead by ensuring that our integrated road networks have very good service lanes. A number of investors have even lost their properties through fire. It is not that the national Government does not have fire engines but accessing those particular areas is difficult. It is actually impossible. So, the best thing is to ensure that these designated service lanes are actually going to assist not only the national Government but also the entire region so that each and every one… I remember what the President said yesterday about East African citizens on that issue. He said that any citizen in this region should be able to access and settle in this country. With that, it is going to promote integration and oneness of that region. This will attract a lot of investors to this particular part of the world. However, no investor will want to come here realising that Nairobi is a clogged up city, a city where you can neither move nor have emergency services. In fact, investors are always attracted to regions where the infrastructural services are smooth, running and functional. I want to inform the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development that when these service lanes are established they shall not be used by motorists. I stress that in the sense that there are times when we have matatus in this particular town and other transport service providers who do not take heed of the importance of leaving these lanes free. They will always want to clog each and every lane that has been established. Hon. Deputy Speaker, in future legislation we shall be proposing stiff penalties especially for individuals who try to use the designated service lanes even during rush hours. These stiff penalties will ensure that these lanes remain free and people reach their designated areas on time. I want to move the Motion and ask Hon. Lemein to second. Thank you.
Okay. Let us have Hon. Lemein. I cannot see your card. There you are.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to second the Motion. I agree with the Mover that in this given time and more so in this city and other urban cities it is indeed very important to have a service lane for emergency purposes. Congested cities encounter a lot of problems when it comes to emergencies because of jams. We can save lives and contain situations if our roads have service lanes. I also agree with the Mover that we lose a lot just because of inability of our emergency vehicles to manoeuvre to the emergency areas. Service lanes will save money as well as life.
In the event that service lanes are created, as the Mover has stipulated, the most important part is to provide for penalties in the law against motorists who may abuse the same. The service lanes are for purposes of emergency. Therefore, this Motion is very important. It will be of immense importance to the people of this country. I second.
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I will start with Hon. (Ms.) Kamene Joyce.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to support the Motion before us. As we are aware, traffic is becoming a menace day in, day out. For example, coming to town using Mombasa Road takes you two hours. Even ambulances have difficulty trying to get their way. Therefore, as I support this Motion, I urge the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development to ensure that such lanes are reserved to ensure that our cities are passable. I also urge them to factor in foot bridges because so many pedestrians lose their lives daily trying to cross the busy highways. Two days hardly lapse before a pedestrian loses his life on Mombasa Road, especially on the stretch between Mlolongo and Kapa. The Ministry should work hard and ensure that this loss of lives comes to an end. Thank you and I wish to support the Motion.
Very well and any Member who is making their maiden speech should notify us so that Hon. Deputy Speaker can protect you. Next is the Member for Tigania West, Hon. Mutunga.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this important Motion. Designated emergency routes are important in cities and other congested urban centres. The situation in this country is dire because many things happen and we are unable to respond to emergencies as fast as we should. We need to reach the means to support an emergency response initiative as quickly as possible. In most cases, our roads are congested. Motorists rarely give way to emergency vehicles. The emergency vehicles we are talking about include police vehicles on emergency mode, ambulatory care vehicles and fire brigade vehicles. If you move around the roads in the city, you will realise that there are no hydro points from which to collect water for putting out fire. A fire outbreak in this city ends up consuming entire buildings. We never save the buildings because of congestion and the low speed at which we access such points. Getting injured people to specialised care centres during an emergency is also an issue. In the process of assisting injured people, we end up injuring them even more. If it were possible for specialised care to access these people faster, trained personnel would handle casualties better. However, since we do not have emergency access routes, we are not in a position to assist them. In some parts of Nairobi, we have adopted a single lane planning strategy, which enables vehicles to move in one direction. We can afford that kind of luxury but we cannot afford to provide for service lane for emergencies. This Motion is timely. We need to plan the city well. Governance in this country is now devolved. The devolved units are busy planning for their urban centres, but they are constrained because they do not have the flexibility to establish emergency lanes on time. We need this provision within the laws of Kenya to address this issue. On the other hand, we have the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) dealing with the planning. It does not have sufficient room for planning for emergency lanes because there is no legal or legislative support. That is why this Motion is important. On the other hand, motorists in this country have serious indiscipline issues. I have in mind people who drive on pavements despite the penalties that have been imposed. We need this law to provide for serious penalties for misusing the proposed emergency service lanes, so that designated emergency lanes can be used for that purpose. I support. 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.
Let us hear the Member for Kiminini, Hon. Wamalwa.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. Indeed, the Motion before us is very critical. I was looking at its practicability in terms of implementation. As the Mover, my friend Hon. Julius Melly put it there are a lot of problems in this country particularly when it comes to emergencies. The police, ambulances and fire engines are critical when it comes to saving lives. My worry is about implementing this Motion. I have visited big cities like New York, London and other jurisdictions where I have seen this aspect happening. Indeed, it will be a wonderful idea to have this implemented in this country however, we have land challenges.
Looking at Uhuru Highway, I wonder whether there is any room for expansion. In as much as the Motion is very good the aspect of its practicability in terms of implementation is a challenge. Article 118 of the Constitution talks about public participation. This is also in line with our Standing Orders which state that before such a Motion comes to the House it should be subjected to the relevant Committee. Unfortunately, we do not have committees which can look at Motions before they come here. Such Motions are supposed to go through the relevant Committee so that Parliament does not waste time on Motions which cannot be implemented.
I know we are supposed to have a Committee on Implementation. There are so many pieces of legislation and Motions which this House has passed but up to date they have not been implemented. This House cannot be legislating in vain. Indeed, as an arm of Government whatever we pass must be implemented. I am saying this because I get so frustrated. For instance, in the last Parliament we passed a Bill which was assented to by His Excellency the President on ranking schools in categories such as national, county and day schools. Up to now, the Ministry of Education has ignored this. Recently, they released the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results and we did not see any ranking. This is also in line with Article 35 of the Constitution on access to information because Kenyans need to know. It is important that as we pass legislations such as Motions or Bills, we must have a strong Committee on Implementation which will follow up so that whatever we pass here is implemented. Parliament cannot legislate in vain. I was just looking at the authority to designate service lanes which is a wonderful idea, but it goes back to planning. Service lanes must be done at the initial phase when designing a road. I thought Thika Superhighway was heaven. Recently when I was passing through it I was shocked that traffic jam there is crazy. There is a saying that, “failing to plan is planning to fail.”
I would like to quote wonderful words by Abraham Lincoln, a former President of the United States of America (USA). He said: “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” Whatever we are doing today, we must think about tomorrow. Indeed, Hon. Melly’s Motion has come because of the poor planning at a particular time. It is a nightmare to pass in this city. When you look at this Motion, it will be good if it is cascaded down to the counties because we know roads are devolved and we have seen many other bodies which are now under the county governments. It will be a great responsibility for the governors to look at the spirit of this Motion so that it can be implemented at the county level, so that when it comes to the planning phase this can be implemented to avoid issues.
The other day I got stuck in traffic jam in Westlands. An ambulance had to put on its siren only for me to realise it was doing that to avoid traffic jam. It was not carrying a patient and this is a disciplinary case. I followed it so that I could reach quickly where I was going, but I realised it was not carrying a critically ill patient. The other day when I went to the Airport to welcome Hon. Raila Amollo Odinga when he was returning from the USA, I found it very 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.
difficult because there was a big convey. I thought Mombasa Road is very well designed only to realise that it has a huge traffic problem.
This is a wonderful Motion but the challenge of implementation is a big issue. Maybe at a later stage we need to form a taskforce to implement it. The bypasses have really helped us and they are a wonderful idea. If you are coming from the Airport and you want to go to Runda and Westlands you can use the Southern Bypass; we thank God for the bypasses. Hon. Melly’s Motion is a wonderful idea but my concern is the practicability of its implementation because we cannot pass a Motion whose implementation is impossible. That is my only worry. The idea is wonderful because we have problems of traffic jam in this country and we have seen property being lost as a result of fire because fire engines cannot move and police face challenges when chasing criminals. There is an issue of discipline in this country. When you go to many big cities in as much as there is traffic snarl-up, it flows.
I do not have much more to say but as we pass this Motion my worry is on implementation. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I support.
Very well. Hon. Wamalwa, is the Member seated next to you the Member for Mathare? Is that Hon. Oluoch? Let us have Hon. Sankok. I thought that is the Member for Mathare Constituency because that would have been a case of miraculous healing. Proceed Hon. Sankok.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Motion which is very timely. I would like to tell my friend, Hon. Wamalwa, not to worry. The Jubilee Government is in place and it will make sure that this Motion is implemented. You should just relax and see how this will be done. I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate Kenyans for attending the swearing in ceremony of our President yesterday. Most of the Members from the other divide were there and we were very happy. I thank them for attending that ceremony.
I rise to support this Motion but with amendments because I think we have forgotten persons with disabilities. As we create this lane we should consider persons with disabilities such as those on wheelchairs and the blind because we need braille on our streets.
Hon. Sankok, I would like to put you on the right track. You cannot support this Motion with amendments because there are no amendments yet. You can only support with reservations that you are going to propose amendments at a later stage. If you say you are supporting it with amendments you will probably be confusing the entire situation. Just support it and propose amendments at a later stage.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I can see Hon. Wamalwa nodding. I support it with reservations that we need a service lane for persons with disabilities like those on wheelchairs.
Sorry again. You might be on the right track because the amendments will be proposed today. I am willing to look at your specific case. So, you can support the Motion and propose amendments which the House can adopt.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for seeing the light. There are persons with disabilities on wheelchairs and when they are congested together with vehicles in traffic jam this creates health issues for them because they are assumed to be pedestrians. We have motorised and manual wheel chairs which really need a service lane. As I said earlier, we need braille on our streets. In Europe, persons who have visual impairment can use their feet to read the signage on the streets through braille so that they know the streets they are on. We also need to incorporate talking traffic lights, so that they can alert 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.
people who do not see that the lights have turned red or green to enable them know the time for a pedestrian to cross. There is a very good idea I saw in one country in Europe. I think it was in Bergen City in Norway, where there is an airport lane. The airport lane has junctions for entry and not for exit. It makes sure that motorists who are going to the airport have a lot of discipline. Once you have entered the lane, you have to exit in the airport. I think we need such lanes as we attract many investors. As the earlier speakers said, we will attract investors from the whole East African Region. If we attract them, the first point of entry will be this city. This city must have an efficient road network. If we introduce an airport lane which goes straight to the airport, it will also assist. I support because we have lost a lot of lives and property. Crimes have taken place, especially during traffic snarl-ups because robbers know when to strike. They know that there is traffic jam during rush hours, and they have ample time to get away before the police arrive. I support this Motion.
Let us hear the Member for Funyula, Hon. Oundo Ojiambo.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the Motion. As my friend, Hon. Chris Wamalwa, has indicated this country has had a problem of having very good reports and plans that go unimplemented. I must mention that a few weeks ago, we passed an urban development policy. I do suppose these kinds of issues must have been addressed in that policy because it becomes a critical urban problem that we must address in totality. Many of us have lived in Nairobi for long enough to know the frustrations we go through whenever we have an emergency requiring us to move a patient from one point to another. It is high time emergency lanes are dedicated for purposes of ambulances, fire engines and probably police emergency services; if only they are not coming to clobber the National Super Alliance (NASA) supporters. Probably, in the same line, typical road designs in this country leave a lot of space for road reserves. It should not be a big deal to get land for this area. In many cities where we have gone to, there are service lanes. There are very strict regulations regarding how they need to be used, how they are to be used and when they are to be used. Of course, we have a challenge. With a corrupt ridden police force, we will still end up with the same mess. They will arrest you on the service lane, you will bribe them and leave the place clogged up. I support the Motion but as Hon. Sankok said, we need to look at the disabled and people living with disabilities of whichever nature. We need to look at lanes for school-going children because they have borne the brunt of hit and run motorists, especially by public transport vehicles. There has been talk of a Nairobi metropolitan transport system. We hope it is not just hot air or mere talk aimed at making people look nice. We hope in the fullness of time, it will be implemented in due course so that we decongest the major cities within the Nairobi metropolitan area and allow for free movement of traffic. With those few remarks, I beg to support the Motion.
Hon. Malulu Injendi.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Motion by my brother, Hon. Melly. In fact, it is a case that is long overdue because of what is happening in the country. However, before I contribute, I would like to congratulate Goldalyn Kakuyu. This is a girl from Malava Constituency. She has done us proud. Just for information to members, this name “Goldalyn” was given by the father on her birth. It meant gold to the father. After 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.
mother had given birth to this child, she was thinking of running away and was afraid of how the society would look at her. She wanted to desert the girl because she thought the father would not accept. The father called her "gold" Goldalyn Kakuyu and you can see that actually that "gold" has finally done the family and the entire Malava Constituency proud. I also thank the President for showing the world publicly that such cases have the capacity and ability. It has taken this case to now declare officially that free secondary school education to form ones is a reality and a fact. When they get admission before Christmas then they will get the free education as was pledged. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I want to say that we can really do this. One of the honourable members here was saying that we cannot do it. I remember His Excellency talking about this yesterday. He said that we should stop being pessimistic all the time. We can do it. For example, a country like China is doing it. They are building new estates and skyscrapers. They are doing all this construction in the face of not having enough land in the country.
On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker.
What is it Hon. Wamalwa?
With due respect, Hon. Malulu Injendi is doing his second term and on a Motion like this, I know you can mention a few things here and there but in terms of relevance, he is actually getting away from the subject matter that we are discussing. Is he in order, Hon. Deputy Speaker?
You see, Hon. Wamalwa, you must be consistent. A few minutes ago, you were talking about the reception at the airport. I gave you some time to remove what is in your chest. Member for Malava is doing the same and you find it wrong. Proceed, Member for Malava.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for your protection. As I support this Motion, I stay along Mombasa Road. Many a times, such service vehicles have found it hard to rush patients to hospitals or rush to where there is fire. You find that most of them actually now turn to using wrong lanes so as to reach their destinations. So, I support this Motion and I also urge the Member concerned that he can also add these service lanes in estates. You recall how the Gikomba Market has been burning down because these service vehicles cannot access such places. If this happens then we can actually protect ourselves. As we talk about this, there is a bit of laxity by the persons who are supposed to manage our roads. After creating this, there must be order on the roads. As much as we may have these service lanes, you find that there are many times when matatus ...
Hon. Deputy Speaker, I am being interrupted by an honourable Member here. They are consulting loudly.
Order, Hon. Limo! Allow the Member to contribute in peace.
As I was saying, motorbikes are causing a lot of accidents on our highways. For example, when police stop vehicles to allow pedestrians to cross the road, motorbikes disobey and cause accidents. So, I urge the hon. Member who has brought this Motion to go another mile by actually developing it into a Bill. As I finish, I also like to correct some impression created about Malava. There is one time in the newspapers when it was reported that Malava has its Class Eight students doing their exams in mud-walled classes. That was a wrong impression. Such a school does not exist in 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.
Malava. When I took over five years ago, we had such schools. But currently, even that particular school you are talking about has five permanent classrooms - two put up by the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF), two by the factories in Malava and one by the then sitting Member of the County Assembly (MCA). I am sorry that this came to the public. I wonder how these newspaper reporters come up with their reports. A person called Wale gave this picture.
Now you are actually irrelevant because you can rise on a Personal Statement and make those clarifications. You have had your time.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I support the Motion.
I will give an opportunity to the Member for Turkana Central.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me an opportunity to add my voice to what Hon. Members have said. This is a wakeup call to our engineers that as they work on our roads, they must plan for the future. They must plan knowing that we have the disabled, children and emergencies in this country. We need to make it compulsory that even new upcoming roads within the highways and urban places have a service lane to serve the purpose that we are now talking about. We are growing. As Hon. Wamalwa said, even in our counties within the urban centres or headquarters of the county governments, we must have those lanes so that in case of an emergency, we can rush to save the lives of the people. All of us here have experienced a situation whereby whenever there is an emergency on the highway, it takes time for an ambulance to reach the hospital. Sometimes, the patient dies inside the ambulance because of the traffic jam along that road. Coming up with such kind of ideas is good because they will help us to plan for our highways and urban centres so that in future, we can save the lives of people who would have died because of traffic jams in this country. This also brings about discipline. As Members have said, some reckless matatu drivers drive off the road and sometimes cause accidents. When we have these lanes on our highways and urban roads, we will instil discipline in our drivers and make sure that anybody driving off his lane is punished and disciplined. We need to bring order and discipline to our roads. We have a law in this country but the problem is that we do not enforce it. We need to make law part and parcel of our lives so that this country can grow and reach another level. At the same time, when we have such kinds of lanes we will save time. Yesterday, our President said that we want to make this country a 24-hour economy. You cannot make this country a 24-hour economy when you spend two hours in a traffic jam. We need to have a way in which you can reach your office earlier so that you perform your duties and do your business. The way to help such ideas is by having such kinds of lanes so that emergency vehicles can use them and other vehicles can move. I support this Motion. This can contribute to the vision that the President has to make this country a 24-hour economy. At the same time, we have learnt that those who are ahead of us did not plan for their places. Now that we have county governments, we must now alert them that they need to have this idea in their manifestos. Every upcoming road must have a lane for emergency. Even in places like Turkana and Maasai where there is a road everywhere, that time has passed. We need to make sure that our engineers must now give guidance to specify a road that can be used purposely for emergency cases. In case we have a fire or accident, that road can be used. Even if one year goes by without an accident, it is better to have it there than not having it because it will save lives at that time. With those few remarks, I want to say that this is a good idea. Finally, I just want to urge our leaders in this House that the President has now been sworn in. Can he go ahead and extend 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.
an olive branch to other leaders and invite them for negotiations because this country is divided? We cannot ignore that fact. This country is on fire and we cannot ignore that. We need our President - as he spoke yesterday - to call other leaders to talk about this country.
That is irrelevant unless you are proposing it as an “emergency lane” into attaining peace.
From this side, Hon. Muturi Kingagi has been on the list for a long time. Do you want an intervention or to contribute? That is Muturi King’angi not Muturi Kigano. The one I see here is a man called Hon. Muturi King’angi, Member for Mbeere South. But because you have stood up anyway and you are one of those people who…I see his card but I will allow you to proceed though you were about the sixth Member in the line. Let me give you that opportunity owing to your seniority and the difficulties you have had coming to the House.
I appreciate your sentiments, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I wish to agree with the statements of my colleagues, though reservedly because some of the so-called emergencies are deliberately and humanly caused by those who induce goons to go to the roads and burn tyres. When you burn those tyres, it becomes very expensive to replace that portion of the road. With those remarks, I do not know whether amendments can be sought at this stage. I am subject to your guidance. With the consent of the Mover, could I seek an amendment to the substantive Motion?
Do you have an amendment?
Yes, I have an amendment.
Just one minute.
Hon. Kigano, if you have an amendment, you need to put it in writing and bring it here so that we are able to…
Could I dictate it to you with your permission? The amendment is very short.
Dictating could be a problem because that would not work. The best thing is just to put it down. I will give you an opportunity to do that. It will be much better for Hon. Members to know what we are amending. Maybe I will give you an opportunity to have some little time then when you resume your contribution, you will do so with the amendment that you have proposed then we deal with it.
It is so minor.
Just come here first. Approach the Table so that we see whether we are doing the right thing. The difficulty with Floor amendments is that we may not know the effect and, therefore, we might pass something that is not well-thought-out.
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In the meantime his minutes are safe, but to save time, I will give an opportunity to another Member. That is the Member for Kasipul. Let us have the Member for Kasipul.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, first, I want to congratulate you on being elected as the Deputy Speaker, and request for your protection because I want to make my first statement in this executive House.
One, I thank the people of Kasipul for the support which brought me to this House. I am really perturbed with what is happening outside while Members are enjoying executive powers here. What I saw yesterday is what we call political raping. Why should policemen be involved in destruction of property, even if the President is being sworn in? As the Member for Kasipul, my allegiance is to the Constitution, the people of Kasipul and my principal, His Excellency Raila Amolo Odinga. I want to state categorically that Kenya is bigger than an individual. We are here jointly as Members of Parliament. We are in the business world. We have intermarried. We are academicians. As leaders of the Republic of Kenya, we should unite. I say that without any contradiction of my allegiance.
Two, I support the Motion which is in the House because it is in line with factors which will save life. It will also give us security when policemen are responding to emergencies. It will also develop the country. In case of property destruction, the response will be very good. However, there are some factors which have to be considered. We are creating a law that designates service lanes for emergency vehicles, but there is one question. There are even some areas in the Republic of Kenya which do not have roads at all. We should have very good planning, and not have laws which will burden the Government that cannot plan well. It is a good idea. I support the Motion. It is a long term plan.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.
You have made your maiden speech. Any time you speak in the future, you will be subject to the rules. There is another Member who wants to make his maiden speech. I will give him the opportunity. Member for Isiolo South.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute in this House. First, I wish to thank the people of Isiolo South for electing me to represent them in this House. I wish to assure them that they have elected a Member who will represent them in this House, and in other matters in the country.
Yesterday was a historic day in this country. I was at Kasarani Stadium where our President was sworn into office. The elections are over. From 8th August until yesterday, there were a lot of uncertainties in this country but that came to an end yesterday. Our President clearly stated yesterday that he is the custodian of the dream of everyone in this country. He said that he is the President of those who voted for him and those who did not vote for him, including Hon. Were who is on the other side. The uncertainties that we had because of the long election period have had a major impact on the economy of this country. We cannot afford to be in the election mood for longer than this. This country needs us to move on. Our businessmen need to work. Our workers need to engage in economic activities that will benefit this country. I wish to invite Members on the other side, as invited by the President yesterday, to take their position as a strong Opposition. They need to wake up. The dream that Hon. Odinga will be the President or will be sworn in is nothing but a dream. They need to wake up from that dream. They need to take their position as a strong Opposition, and leave the running of this country to none other than His Excellency Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta who is the President of this country. 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 heard yesterday that Hon. Raila will be sworn in on 12th December 2017 which is a dream. We respect him as the Opposition leader. He has contributed in a way to this country and that is it. Our President is none other than His Excellency Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta. We want to build this country. He is the President of all people.
Touching on the Motion before this House, as I was coming this morning, I saw a lady on a wheelchair in the middle of the road because she was trying to avoid some potholes. I was really concerned for the life of that lady. If there was a lane designated for use by people living with disabilities, she would not have been in that situation. Up to now, I do not know what happened to her. We need to designate a lane in future so that our people living with disabilities will not be at the risk that I saw that lady exposed to. It may be difficult as mentioned by some Members because of the unavailability of land in Nairobi, but what about other centres? There are new cities coming up. For example, Isiolo will be a resource city under Vision 2030. Why can we not have such a lane designated for emergency vehicles and for use by people living with disabilities? This House should not urge but demand that any road that is coming up must have a lane designated for emergencies and for use by people living with disabilities. Then we should give a timeframe within which the roads which do not have emergency lanes engage engineers to construct them. This should be cascaded downwards so that county assemblies should pass Bills that will require any road that will be designed in future to have provisions for security lanes and lanes to be used by people living with disabilities. Otherwise, we will be faced with a situation like what I saw this morning. That situation should not arise again. We should not have people living with disabilities in a situation like the one I witnessed this morning. On that basis, we should demand that the Kenya Urban Roads Authority and the Kenya Highways Authority to include in any future roads they will design specific lanes for people living with disabilities and emergency lanes.
Thank you very much. I support the Motion.
Hon. Members, those who have amendments should prepare in advance so that they do not ambush the Chair while the House is in progress. You can see the difficulties we are having with the amendment by the Hon. Member for Kangema. So, in future that is what we should do. Since this is a Motion, even if you do not amend it now, you can target it when it is a Bill form and is in progress to propose amendments. In fact, at that point, you will do a far much better job.
Let us have the Member for Mavoko. He is absent. Then, we will have Hon. Mutua Barasa.
Thank you very much, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity so that I make it clear that I oppose this Motion. I oppose it because we live in a country in which whenever we have a problem, we want to make massive investments to solve it. The problem we have in this country is not that the emergency vehicles lack a road to pass. Today if a Cabinet Secretary (CS) wants to get to Mombasa Road to his girlfriend, the police will clear traffic and he will get there within the shortest time possible.
I am saying that we must link the emergency services to the police commanders’ hotlines so that whenever we have an emergency, the police should clear traffic so that those emergency vehicles access the places they are supposed to get to.
Even if we had those emergency lanes created tomorrow, matatus will use them and broken down cars will be parked on them. Today, we have pavement but matatus and cars drive on them and nothing is done. So, I do not see any need of wasting taxpayers’ money to create emergency lanes when this matter can be handled administratively. The life of a Kenyan is 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.
important. The way the police clear traffic for a CS to get to see this girlfriend should be the same for the emergency vehicles to get to where there is an emergency and save the situation.
I oppose the Motion. Thank you.
Let us have Hon. Kigano and be very brief.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker once again for the indulgence you accorded me to draft this brief amendment. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to move:
THAT, the Motion be amended in the 12th line by inserting the words, “provide for service lanes in future designs, plans and” immediately after the words “Highways Authority”
I seek to be seconded by my namesake, Hon. Muturi Kingagi.
What do you intend to achieve?
The present road designs may not accommodate the service lanes. This was stated by Hon. Wamalwa because land and facilities may not be immediately available for implementation of this Motion. It is futuristic.
So, what you are saying is that, if the Motion remains as it is, it will only affect the existing roads that can have those service lanes, but the ones which are being designed might escape the effect of the Motion. That is well stated.
Precisely.
Let us have your seconder, Hon. King’angi.
Thank you Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving this opportunity to second the amendment. In seconding it, I find that the Motion as proposed, in the first place, does not have a flowing logic. When I googled, I found out that the number of ambulances in Nairobi is 68 and there are 354 in the whole country. It will not make sense to create a whole lane for 68 vehicles when it is not known whether they are serviceable or not.
Let it be very clear. Are you seconding or you are contributing? In my opinion, you have not touched anything to do with the proposed amendment by Hon. Kigano.
I am seconding.
Proceed.
I rise to second that future designs should actually tackle the problem in a more comprehensive manner. In any case, it is not just the emergency or people living with disabilities who require special treatment on the roads. We also require lanes to facilitate the
which are a reality in this country. There is a road in Kileleshwa which has taken care of the boda bodas . If you go there, you realise that there is a better flow of traffic compared to other roads in this city. Also the road in Kileleshwa takes care of joggers and cyclists.
I second this Motion by saying that future designs should be more comprehensive to take care of our current situation.
I will give a chance to two Members to make contribution to the amendment only. We will then dispose of it, and go back to the Motion.
Let us have Hon. Korir.
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Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I support the amendments to the Motion. The reason why I am supporting this Motion is because I am a Member of Parliament in Nairobi and I see ambulances every day trying to push their way to save lives. Hon. Chris Wamalwa said he witnessed an ambulance just putting on a siren to avoid traffic. Maybe that ambulance was going to pick someone who was sick and he just received a call in the middle of the traffic and they needed to easily maneuver to that place. The reason why when you have a sick person, for example, we call ambulance and not Uber or use personal car is because we assume that the ambulance will reach the hospital on time. Given the situation that we are in right now and the increase in vehicle traffic, when you look at other countries, they have designated lanes for police, ambulance and firefighting equipment so that they can reach and rescue the situation on time. In regard to the amendment that has just been put in front of this House, if we go the way the Motion is right now, we will be talking of the existing roads and we might not cover the future plans. The roads that we have right now like Lang’ata Road have a lot of space that can accommodate walkways and drainage systems. In that space, we can also allocate a lane for emergency, boda boda and for other services that we may need. Therefore, unlike what Hon. Chris Wamalwa said, we just need a firm leader just like the late Michuki to ensure that these things are done and followed up to the letter. I remember when we had the debate on streamlining the transport system which is still part of this, the late Hon. Michuki was the Minister then and most of us opposed the issue of yellow lines, speed governors and safety belts, but you will realize that right now, long after the Minister has left us, those things have saved lives. We are losing a lot of lives because of rogue matatu and private drivers who do not want to give way to ambulances, police and firefighting equipment so that they can reach and rescue the situation on time. I support this Motion and also the amendment.
I am trying to look at Members who have placed interventions because that helps to differentiate those who want to speak to the amendment as opposed to the ones who want to speak to the main Motion. So, let me give the Member for Kwanza an opportunity. I will give only a minute to the Mover of the Motion to tell us whether he supports or opposes it then we can dispose of it.
Hon. Deputy Speaker, thank you very much for the chance. I concur with the contribution from Hon. Korir. I and everybody else are in Nairobi. There is a lot of land in Nairobi. Most of the people maybe have not gone out of the city to see what is happening. I have travelled elsewhere. I have travelled to India, Italy and other places and I have seen this kind of thing. There is always a road for emergency. I do not know what the amendment is all about. What we need to do is to have the authorities like KURA, KeNHA and KeRRA involved in order to provide the design for the present and future roads. We should not talk about it coming in the future; we have a lot of land. Go to Uhuru Highway, Waiyaki Way and even Lang’ata Road, there is a lot of land. I ask Members to be mindful of other brothers. Be brother’s keeper and make that provision because we have had problems. The other day, I was in Mombasa Road near South B, and there was an ambulance struggling to come out. I had to come out to control the traffic because there was no police officer around. When it comes to roundabouts, we have rogue
drivers and some with personal cars who cannot give way to even a police officer or a fire engine. Therefore, the amendment that was being proposed by the hon. Member should talk about the urgency of the whole thing and have the design brought back to the drawing board. We 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.
should design for the current and the future. That should be the way out other than saying we forget about the already designed roads because we have problems at the moment. Therefore, those of us who have travelled, and most of you who have travelled, have seen that in every place there is an emergency lane. One Member mentioned here this morning that where a disabled person is in the middle of the road she is not able to move. I have had cases where you have to stop for this kind of thing. I know some Motions in the past have not been implemented because they are not implementable but a case like this is straightforward. Therefore, the implementing committee will summon KURA and KeRRA and be able to give them the design so that we do not debate in vain. I do not know where the Motion is, but I support it. We should be able to pass this Motion so that we can have the design. From Kitale to this place…
We are under amendment. Which one are you supporting; the amendment or the main Motion?
The amendment is not very clear but I am for the idea that we go ahead and have the current design. We should go back to the drawing board to be able to have extra lane for emergency purposes. I support.
Hon. Melly, very briefly then we dispose of that one.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I want to correct the notion that the established service lanes do not work. You have seen in some countries…
Are you supporting the amendment?
I am supporting the amendment by the hon. Member that in future designs, if we are going to design roads… A very good example is the Thika Superhighway. It has the concept of service lanes. All over the world, you cannot avoid emergencies. Let me even have a case here in Kenya. I have seen a case where an ambulance has travelled very well; let us assume from Murang’a or Machakos only to arrive on Mombasa Road and find heavy traffic jam. It has taken two hours to come from the interior of Kitui and then it takes two hours from Mombasa Road to reach Nairobi Hospital. That patient passes on. It is not about “ matatus will use it”. Hon. Member for Lang’ata has just put it very clearly.
Hon. Melly, you had contributed. Actually, you are the person who moved the Motion. Once you have supported that particular amendment, you do not have to go back to what you had done before. We are dealing with the amendment only which you have supported. We wanted to pick your mind on that. Now that you have supported, we can proceed and dispense with that because we still have a further amendment.
Thank you.
Hon. Members, there is a proposal to further amend the Motion by Hon. Ahmed Bashane. Kindly proceed and move it quickly. What is your point of order, Hon. Jomo?
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. With a lot of respect to your seat and how you had proposed the way forward for this Motion, especially when addressing the issues of amendments, given that this is just a Motion, allow Members to debate. As they debate, they could include what they would wish to see the Bill look like. The Member who was seconding the first amendment introduced a further amendment in the course of debating. I think we will 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.
put the House in an awkward position because some of us have amendments. We would want to see the issues of those designated lanes addressed wholesomely so that we do not have to repeat by bringing up other Motions in future. If you allow, we can proceed to debate the principal Motion with amendments because they have already been approved. But, for any other amendments, including the amendment I am going to bring, it will just be debated and wait for the Bill which I think, will help us bring out a Bill that will address all those issues. Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.
That makes a lot of sense Hon. Washiali. But, you see we are bound by the Standing Orders. The Standing Orders allow Members to bring amendments and further amendments to Motions. Again, you see we have very many new Members. It is also good for them to have a feel of how to deal with some of those Motions when they come. On the other hand, we also are having a problem if we anticipate Bills. Let us assume Hon. Melly will have his Motion passed today and that is over. Any imagination that there will be a Bill, even if that is the intention the House will always have, would actually be anticipating debate. Therefore, that will be governed by Article 85(1) of our Standing Orders. Let us allow Members, especially those who feel very strongly that they want to amend this Motion, to do it. Those who have a lot of faith that the Bill will come can also wait for the Bill and make the decision then, whether to amend it or not. So, let us have Hon. Bashane to move because I had approved his further amendment. But, what is going to be critical with the next few debates is that we will not allow Members to ambush the House. They must make decisions because those Motions are always on the Order Paper. They should prepare themselves in good time so that when we start a debate, we already know who is going to be moving an amendment or not. Proceed, Hon. Bashane. Be very brief, please.
I beg to move: THAT, the Motion be further amended in the eleventh line by inserting a comma and the words “Kenya Rural Roads Authority” immediately after the words “Kenya Urban Roads Authority”. This is having in mind that this will apply to all the three institutions that are in the national Government and are meant to design and construct roads in Kenya. If you omit Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA), it will imply that any road that will be made by KeRRA will be omitted from what was suggested in this Motion.
Okay. Who is seconding your further amendment?
You can see the difficulty when we do it on the Floor. We sometimes also have difficulty raising Members to second. But, that is for today. Who is seconding?
Sophia is seconding.
Proceed, Hon. Noor.
Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I would like to second his Motion because we are trying to address issues in the future; we must holistically look at things when they are brought to this House. It means all bodies that work on roads must be included so that other bodies do not think that is their responsibility. Planning for the future, we must holistically address all issues when they come to this Floor of the House. 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 seconding the amendment by saying that all bodies that are implementing work on roads on behalf of the Government should be included so that one does not run away from their responsibilities. Thank you.
You are seconding the further amendment.
Yes, Sir.
I will give chance to two Members, those who will have placed interventions. We will start with Hon. Lomenen.
Thank you for this opportunity, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I stand to support the amendment of including KeRRA. I have spoken to my brother here, Hon. Melly. He is prepared to oppose. I have advised him that if he opposes that further amendment, this Motion will fail. It is because most of the Members who are here come from the rural areas. I have just asked him who is this who has said rural roads will not have traffic in the future. Rural roads are also growing. If we are putting Motions or law, we must put laws that take care of the future. We are saying we must design it in a way that even the rural roads will be catered for. I have one rural road that is ever busy. Emergencies are not only meant for cities. It is not only people who come from the cities who become sick and have those ambulances. Ambulances are so many in our rural areas. I support that amendment and we must include it. In fact, we will oppose this Motion if you do not include this amendment.
Let us leave it at that. Let us have Member for Matungu.
Ahsante sana, Mhe. Naibu Spika. Kwa kuwa hii ni mara yangu ya kwanza kuongea katika Jumba hili la Bunge, ningependa, kwanza, kushukuru watu wangu wa Matungu kwa kunichagua kuwa mwakilishi ama mjakazi wao katika hili Nyumba Kuu. Nikiunga mkono mapendekezo ambayo tunajadili kuhusu barabara zetu, naunga mkono Mheshimiwa mwenzangu ambaye ameongea hivi karibuni kwamba tusiongee juu ya barabara za mijini peke yake. Barabara za mashambani pia ziongezwe kwa mpangilio huu kwa sababu Kenya inakua kila siku. Barabara zetu kuu zimekuwa na shida, si ya Mombasa peke yake. Wale tunakaa sehemu hii ya upande wa Mombasa Road tuko na shida tunapokuja kazini asubuhi na tunapotoka. Pili, wale tunatoka sehemu ya Magharibi pia tuko na shida sehemu hii ya Salgaa; hutokea ajali kila mara. Tungekuwa na barabara inayoweza kutumiwa na matrela ama lori kubwa kubwa, huenda hatungekuwa na shida ambayo tunakuwa nayo kila wakati.
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Nikiongezea nguvu kwa mwenzangu Mheshimiwa aliyesema ya kwamba wale wanaohusika na maneno ya sheria hawafanyi kazi yao; wamelala kwa kazi yao. Barabara mbili ambazo zilitengenezwa hivi juzi, barabara ya Eastern Bypass na Southern Bypass, zilitengenezwa kwa sababu ya kuondoa malori makubwa makubwa kupitia sehemu ya mijini. Lakini hata sasa unapotoka nje ya Bunge hili usimame utazame barabara kuu ya Uhuru Highway, utaona ya kwamba malori makubwa yangali yanatumia hii barabara. Badala ya kutumia ile barabara mpya inayopitia sehemu ya Southern Bypass, zingali zinakuja hadi mjini. Ingekuwa wale ambao wanatilia mkazo wanaona ya kwamba sheria inatumika, hatungekuwa na jambo kama hili. Ya pili, ningependa kukumbusha Waheshimiwa wenzangu ya kwamba tuko hapa kwa sababu tungependa kupeana mwelekeo. Ni jambo la kusikitisha kuona ya kwamba wale wanaofaa kulinda sheria na kuona ya kwamba sheria inachukua mkondo wake ndio wa kwanza kuvunja sheria. Jana ilikuwa jambo la kusikitisha kuona wale ambao wanafaa kulinda sheria wanavunja sheria. Kila Mkenya ako na haki yake. Mwenzetu Mkenya Mhe. Raila Odinga alikuwa na haki yake ya kufanya mkutano wake. Lakini lilikuwa jambo la kusikitisha jana kuona ya kwamba wale wanaofaa kulinda sheria ndio wa kwanza kuvamia Mhe. Raila. La mwisho, naunga mkono mapendekezo ya kutengeneza barabara maalum kwa ajili ya mambo yanayotokea kwa ghafla. Ahsante.
Hon. Members, could we have Hon. Melly, the owner of the Motion, to speak to this proposed further amendment?
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to oppose the second amendment, more so, on developing service lanes on rural roads. I think it is killing the spirit of this Motion. The spirit of this Motion is to assist emergencies in congested urban centres like Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret and Mombasa. How do you construct an emergency lane in a rural area, surely, where we have no traffic issues? This morning when I was coming to work, I saw an ambulance which was struggling so much to go through traffic. I have heard of cases where a number of patients have died on those roads just because the ambulances cannot move. Houses have been burnt down just because the fire brigade cannot reach on site on time. If you have the emergency lane on rural roads, I think rural roads are about constructing good roads in the rural areas. You cannot construct two emergency lanes on rural roads. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I oppose the second amendment. Thank you.
Very well. Hon. Cheboi, the Deputy Speaker, had ruled that we would have only two contributions to this. So that we can make progress, I propose that I put this to the House so that you can make a decision one way or the other.
Hon. Members, we will now therefore proceed with the Motion as amended and further amended. Those are amendments that the House has passed. The Motion will proceed in that manner and contributions will take into cognisance those amendments. We will now grant this opportunity to the Member who is first on my list, Hon. Waweru Kiarie, the Member for Dagoretti South. 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 very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for this opportunity. I rise to support this Motion by Hon. Melly and for good reason. Before I support this Motion, if I am exhibiting any excitement, I would like to confess that it is a hangover coming from the inauguration yesterday. I am truly excited that we are getting back to order as a country. I would also want to mention that if my eyes are not failing me, the other side of the House is quite filling up. I see my friend Mheshimiwa Maanzo. And I do agree that we are coming to an end of this resistance and getting to a situation where we start building the country together. For that, I would like to say that I am excited. This Motion is indeed timely. We got to be a House of vision. We have got to look ahead, beyond the years that we live in. as it is right now, any person who is reasonable knows that we do need those emergency lanes on our roads, for the roads that already exist and for the roads that we shall be building. Even for existing roads, we have seen situations where motorists have to create way for either fire engines or ambulances even if we do not know which emergencies they are attending to at that moment. With existing roads, as small as they look, we see that when there is an attempt by drivers to give way, finally the ambulance or the emergency vehicle is able to make way. So with those amendments, I do believe even existing roads can be redesigned to accommodate an emergency lane. I also support the amendments that have been carried, noting that as we grow as a country, rural roads will at their own time require those emergency lanes. I have had the unfortunate incident of having to carry a patient all the way from Athi River in an ambulance, attempting to get to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). The patient I am talking about happened to be a dear brother. The situation on that road did not allow us to get to the hospital in good time. And I can sadly say that this patient unfortunately did pass on. With the provision of an emergency lane, I do believe that the situation would have been different if we had saved a few minutes on the road. Finally, I would like to note that in constructing roads, we are actually dealing with the hardware. As a House, we will also need to go further and start interrogating how we shall deal with the software. By software, I am talking about our courtesy on the roads, our behaviour on the roads, how pedestrians view the motorists and how the motorists view pedestrians. I think we shall be going into a situation where we will be required to do a lot of behaviour change communication on how to use those roads. Allow me to use this statement: I believe that most of our road users are actually traffic-illiterate. We will require going further and making our road users more literate on road use. I believe that those words ring true: That change happens when the pain of changing overcomes the pain of staying as we are. As it is right now, we go through so much pain with emergency responses on our roads. I believe that even as we change the hardware of our roads, we should also endeavour to change the software of our road users. With that, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I support. Thank you very much.
We shall have Hon. Ochieng Owuor, the Member for Migori.
(Hon. (Ms.) Pamela Awuor Ochieng): Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I would like to first announce that I will require a bit of protection from your seat, this being my maiden speech in this great House. I first want to acknowledge and sincerely thank members of Migori County for according me this opportunity to represent them in this House as their woman representative. I simply want to vow to try my best to do this to the best of my ability and capacity. 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.
Having said that, I think the Motion we are discussing this morning is of good value; the idea sounds well. But I would like to echo the sentiments of my friend, Hon. Kiarie. First, I would like to say that as you sound excited because this side is filling up, we are here for a different purpose, not really to feel excited. I do not know what is exciting in seeing our children being shot like birds in the name of protecting the inauguration. As a mother, I stand here with a lot of pain today to say that our authorities are misusing the power. And we are not going to sit and watch as we degenerate into nothingness. We want to call upon the police to know their duty. Even this road that we are discussing today, I am of the strong opinion that if all Kenyans, including the police who are stationed at those roads, would do what is right, to be honest we may not need to subject more money to the urban centres. We only need discipline. But because we are not disciplined, I think it may be good to think of those other lanes. Look at the case of Thika Road. This is a road which has several lanes, the mainstream and two service lanes, and you still find all matatus and drivers messing up the roads until there is such a snarl-up that you wonder even if we created those lanes, will we use them correctly. So I emphasise the software part of changing our attitude in the use of our roads. I would like to remind the nation of Kenyan represented by these men and women who are sitting here that we have seen the kind of brutality that is uncalled for. We have seen malicious attempts by people in authority to use that authority to subvert the rights of others. As a woman, I want to call upon the other women in this House, whether you belong to NASA or Jubilee; I think we are going the wrong direction when we see men who are armed harassing women who are innocent, some of them being removed from their own houses to be beaten up. This is unacceptable and I would want to condemn it in the strongest terms possible. As we think about the future of our country, it is important to address where we are now. This uncertainty that we think is over, is not over. We cannot be laughing when a section of this same nation is crying and people are denied their rights. This House needs to rise up to its rightful occasion and position. We should say when things are right or wrong. I want to also, in the name of doing what is right including doing our roads right…. I heard my brother saying that if we amend the Motion to include rural roads then we are wrong, we will lose the spirit. But having come from a rural area, I want to tell you there are some roads that even two vehicles cannot overtake each other. Therefore, if we are thinking about the road network in Kenya, then KeRRA must be brought on board, and anywhere in Kenya where any money is spent to build a road, it is important that we know there is a possibility of somebody overtaking, a possibility of a vehicle coming from the other end. In Migori County, we have lost quite a number of young people in the name of boda
. They have been maimed and disabled. Some have died because the roads are too narrow. There is no way that those big machines…. For example, around the South Nyanza sugar belt, we have had quite a number of cases of people dying. I would want us to also recommend that in future we can come up with a template, something that is all-inclusive to give a disciplinary measure. More so, the people who exercise authority on those roads, we need to make them know that we are tired of police just standing on the roads to collect money from drivers and then the same thing is repeated. This is something that needs total concerted efforts of all Members just to make sure that it is rightfully done. So, I support this idea but also add my voice to the cry that we need, from this House, to go back to the rule of the law and protect the rights of everybody: the right to life, the right to self-expression, the right to assembly and all those ideas that are included in our Constitution. 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 very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.
We shall now have Hon. Murgor Kipkosgei, the Member for Keiyo North. Members, I would like you to note that even as we give opportunity to Members to speak, we shall try as much as possible to be fair to regional and gender balance. We all have opportunity to speak. The list is here. I will try to balance that as much as possible. This is the only Motion we have today. I would ask Members to kindly be patient. We shall give opportunity as fairly and distribute it across the country as much as possible. Hon. Murgor, proceed.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to add my voice to this very important debate. This Motion on emergency service lanes is long overdue. I would like to thank Hon. Melly for bringing this Motion. I have the experience of two towns, Nairobi and Eldoret, my hometown. What we see, particularly when there is a snarl-up, we have ambulances trying to find a way of getting to hospitals. And I wonder sometimes if a patient is in that ambulance and he is bleeding or has had a heart attack, for example, will this person really reach there? So this Motion has come at the right time. And we should actually expedite it such that it is put in place as soon as possible. You will find buildings being burnt down because ambulances cannot reach the areas as soon as they are required. Hon. Deputy Speaker, the only thing which I think this Motion will face is basically the question of implementation. Let us not cheat ourselves. We have had many Motions passed in this House and they have not been implemented up to now. I urge Hon. Melly to bring a Bill so that this thing is brought to fruition. Quoting Hon. Wamalwa on the question of discipline, I see the challenge which this Motion is going to face if it is going to be implemented. It is the question of: Are we really disciplined enough? Matatus will use the same lane. Somebody talked about Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) putting up sirens. Probably, I am sure some of the Members here may start using those lanes. It will be really unfair to use them because that is not what they were meant for. So, I would like to end there. I support this Motion with all the amendments.
Very well. I will give this opportunity to the Deputy Leader of the Majority Party, Hon. Washiali. You know the rules. When he shows interest then he must speak.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. For your information, I am actually the Chief Whip and not the Deputy Leader of the Majority Party.
He would like to correct the record. You were a deputy in the other Parliament. I still have life from the other Parliament. However, in this Parliament you are the Chief Whip of Jubilee Party. Please, proceed.
Thank you. For record, the Deputy Leader of the Majority Party is slightly a senior position than a Chief Whip. Therefore, I actually appreciate the promotion or the anticipated promotion. I would like to add my voice to that of Members who have supported this Motion. Before I do that, I just want to thank the observation of Hon. Kiarie. As a Chief Whip, I really appreciate that our colleagues from National Supper Alliance (NASA) Coalition are now attending those sessions and as a House, I think it is very important and it is appreciated. I also want to add that we are Kenyans. We are brothers and sisters. Even if we are to fight, let us fight as brothers. If we have to argue, let us argue as brothers and sisters. This is our 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.
country. We do not have any other and, therefore, the aspect of you deciding that now you will join us and proceed with balanced debate is highly welcome. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I also heard Hon. Chrisantus Wamalwa who is not with us now saying that we need to pursue some of those issues through committees. Indeed, if our colleagues from NASA Coalition would have organised themselves to bring up their names, maybe we will be through with this. As a Chief Whip on this other end, we are ready and we would want our colleagues also on the other side to be ready so that we can move together as a House and Kenyans. Actually, I had expressed my fears on the way we are proceeding with this Motion. I am happy that the previous Speaker has also urged our brother Hon. Melly to quickly move and make this a Bill so that we can address all issues that would help in the aspects of emergencies and boda bodas which are growing day by day. If you go to town today, you will see a lot of motorbike riders. In fact, wananchi those days prefer motorbike riders to taxis because of the way they move around traffic jams. It is easier to get to your destination on time when using a
than a taxi. I had also in the course proposed that in this Motion or rather when it becomes a Bill, we will also add the aspect of public transport so that we do a wholesome Bill that would address the transport issues in cities. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, on the second amendment by my brother from Wajir, to me I would look at it as a very ambitious amendment. This is because we need to be realistic in this House. When we talk of putting emergency lanes even in the rural areas, we also need to look at the resources that would enable us to do so. Some of the reasons why some of the Bills, Acts or policies have failed is because we are overambitious and we propose things that we do not have resources for. Therefore, I support this Motion and that as we move towards formulating a Bill, I would also propose that we include designated public transport. If you go to town here, you will find that we have a big problem of parking. Some of the people who work in town park their vehicles from around 5.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. and then take their vehicles home. Surely, such people should use public transport, but they do not because buses coming to town take ages in traffic jam. In fact, many opt to use private transport. This has happened and I am sure Members have been the biggest victims. When you go to the airport, it is not easy to get to the airport in time. This is because we do not have a designated lane that the public transport would have otherwise used so that then we are able to reach our destinations in good time. Therefore, in summary, this is a good Motion and as a House we need to upgrade it to a Bill so that then it can help Kenyans. In addition, just because our gracious lady mentioned it, we are parents. Both sides of the House, NASA and Jubilee are parents. What we saw yesterday, where a seven year old boy lost his life because he was shot does not please any side of this House. I am a parent and it really touched me. I watched this with my family. I have a seven year old child and I was imagining that he was the one who got shot and killed. When journalists were interviewing neighbours I was surprised to hear that the person who shot that child was a policeman. You will bear me witness that you will never find two policemen riding on a motorbike. I have never seen this happen. Chances are, and this is subject to confirmation, that the conduct of our brothers in NASA has given a conducive atmosphere for thugs to take advantage of the situation. That is why I am begging that we need to come back, think as Kenyans and correct the situation on how we are moving forward. Chances are that whoever might have shot the boy we are mourning today was a thug. That is because there is no way a policeman can do that. The witnesses said – and I do not know whether some of you saw that--- The fact that they refused to come back 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.
the scene of crime, I do not think they were policemen. We will ask the police to go ahead and investigate who shot that boy so that they can be brought to book. Thank you.
I hope Hon. Melly is taking note. That is because the contributions that have been made with regard to what requires to be done to this nightmare that is presented in traffic in this country will require a multi-sectoral approach. It is one that may require that inter-dependence clause in our Constitution to be activated. This is a very serious one and you need to take those notes so that as you draft and consider the Bill in this regard, all these factors are taken into consideration. I would like to give this opportunity to the Member for Mwingi North, Hon. Nzengu Musyimi.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity. As I contribute to this Motion, I would like to make a clarification. Last week there was some information in the print media and television indicating that I am going to the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA). I want to make that correction. It is not me. I have no interest in going to EALA because I want to serve the people of Mwingi North as they have given me that mandate. Hon. Members, do not expect to see my name when the list of Members to be vetted for EALA is presented to the Parliament. Coming back to the Motion, as a civil engineer, when we do designs for roads, there are certain factors we consider. One is cost, safety and aesthetics. We do a complete analysis before we decide on---
Hon. Nzengu, are you reading a statement?
No, I am not reading a statement. I am only having some short notes. We do economic analysis to decide whether the road is worthy. That is because the road could be very good in terms of safety, but it is not economical. We are talking of providing extra lanes for specific emergencies. The question is: What is the cost of doing a road? I would like to put it to Members here that today, to do one kilometer of road in an urban area could cost about Kshs80 million and Kshs50 million in rural areas. So, when we talk of including KeRRA which starts with Class D roads, KURA and KeNHA which deal with Classes A, B and C… Roads managed by KeRRA are the longest. We are talking of adding a lane on roads which are not even tarmacked. Most of them are just murram roads. It is a good Motion but as originally drafted by Hon. Melly, we may have to look back as Members even though we have agreed to add some amendments. I totally disagree with the second amendment because, even though I come from the rural area, I do not believe that we need an extra lane on those roads which are mostly murram roads. An hon. Member said that to come from Machakos to join the Airport Road it may take you an hour. It may take you two hours to reach Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). I request Members to think about the idea of using KeRRA so that we can make those additional lanes economically feasible. That way, we do not juts pass a Motion that will remain in the archives because the Government is unable to finance an extra lane for all the roads in Kenya. Thank you.
Very well, we shall have Hon. Mwangi Mburu, the Member for Lari.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I support the Motion. As Hon. Melly is preparing the Bill, we will come up with the specifics about the KeRRA Roads. They also need footpaths and drainage. I have a Class C KURA road from 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.
highway to the hospital. Children cannot go to school because the road does not even have a foot path. It takes motorists a lot of trouble to have to wait for the children to pass the road because it has no drainage and footpath. I happen to have travelled a lot. I have lived in Uganda and it is a mess. The Government did not foresee the boda boda population soaring as it is now and the same problem is in Nigeria. We need to implement this and have service lanes. We need lanes for riders and cyclists. The Netherlands has more riders than Nairobi or Kampala, but the traffic moves because they have the service lanes for all the users. I support the Motion. As Hon. Wakhungu has said, we have a problem in implementation. As we are building those roads, we must also look at the time lines. We have one road here in industrial area where we all work and do business - Likoni Road. It has taken us almost over seven years to just put up the bridge. They have done the walls but not the bridge. So, you find that, as Hon. Melly is preparing the Bill, we must also come up with timelines as to when this must be done. When a contract is given, how long must it take? It is like taking 30 years and there is already money that has been used for this and we have never benefitted from it. So, I support the Motion. We need it for the new and old roads in Nairobi and also in the villages. We need a Bill that will be specific to KeRRA and all the other roads. Thank you so much.
Let us have Hon. Baya.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to contribute. I would like to support this Motion, but with a lot of reservations. One of the things that need to be done is to put in a Bill and the need to be more comprehensive. Expanding the roads will demand that you touch someone’s land. In those areas where road reserves have been occupied by the public, it means even the cost of constructing emergency lanes will go up. As the Bill is being prepared, Hon. Melly needs to look at the physical planning, the Ministry of Lands and all that goes into it so that it is a multi-sectoral approach. My reservation is that while I support this Bill, I know it will take a century for such a road to be constructed at the Coast region, when you look at the amount of marginalization that the Coast has undergone during the different regimes in this country. While my friend Waweru Kiarie was saying that he did not sleep, he has a hangover because he was celebrating the swearing in of the new President, I actually also did not sleep because I was agonizing about another 10 years of marginalization of the Coast region. That is why when you go to the people of the Coast and ask them if they have a President, they will tell you they do not have. Why? They believe there has been systematic marginalization of the area, such that if you are talking about a service lane here in Nairobi, they do not even think that a tarmac road will ever be built in the rural of the Coast region. These are the things which hurt the region and the people there end up saying they need to secede and move out of this country called Kenya.
On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.
Hon. Washiali, what is your point of order?
On a point of order, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I did not intend to interfere with my brother Hon. Baya’s debate. I am just wondering because he has talked of marginalisation. Currently, we have a road being constructed in Mombasa which will cost the Government of Kenya about Kshs6 billion. This is the bypass from the Moi International Airport 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.
through Dongo Kundu to South Coast. Is this marginalization? There is also a dual carriageway being built on the road from Mombasa Town all the way to Mazeras. I am sure if you travel by road from Mombasa, you will bear witness to what this Government has done. The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) reaches the middle of Mombasa Town. Honestly, you cannot realise this is consideration? Those of us from the Western region wish the SGR reaches our region.
Hon. Washiali, that is a point of information. If I heard him right, his argument was about the rural roads in the Coast. I also think the information you have given him is important because the Dongo Kundu route cost about Kshs18 billion. But his quest was on the rural roads.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. As I had said, it will take a century to build these roads. I am on the right track that it has taken half a century to build the infrastructure the Member has talked about and for the Coast region to be considered for such major developments. Therefore, when we say that we are going to designate service lanes on rural roads at the Coast region, I can bet if we will still be alive, it will take 100 years to achieve this. Secondly, while we talk about service lanes, the people at the Coast are talking about education. These service lanes we are talking about are for those whom God has shone more light on their regions and they have everything they need. They are now thinking about service lanes. At the Coast region, right now, we have a shortage of teachers. The President and the Jubilee Government are saying that they are going to start free primary and secondary education. I have a deficit of 7,000 teachers in my constituency. This means that there is lack of priorities for some constituencies.
On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.
The Member for Tinderet, what is out of order?
On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I believe this is a House of rules and procedure. Is it in order for Hon. Baya to insinuate or misinform the House that he has a shortage of 7,000 teachers in his constituency? How many schools are in his constituency? Most counties in this country are the ones having a shortage of 6,000 or 7,000 teachers and not a constituency. Kindly, information given my Members should be accurate.
Very well, Member for Tinderet. Hon. Baya, kindly remain relevant to the matter at hand. You still have one or two minutes.
I think I have made my point. At the Nyali Bridge in Mombasa, there is a service lane which was done when the bridge was constructed. Today, there is traffic jam and congestion because of mismanagement of that service lane by police officers. They have erected two road blocks at the spot and they do not ensure that the lane is properly used. As we look into this Motion, I think issues concerning how we manage service lanes are important. I do not know whether we need to retrain traffic police officers in this country, so that they can implement what is envisaged in our laws to ensure that service lanes make sense. Otherwise, we will spend a lot of money building service lanes and then end up with the same mess that we are in. I would like to support this Motion with reservations. Thank you very much.
Hon. Melly, I can hear Hon. Members saying that even as we develop these service lanes, probably this should be put in the policy that new development should put this into consideration. I will give this opportunity to Hon. Noor Sophia, Member for Ijara. 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 for giving me this chance. From the outset, I would like to support the Motion. Before I do that, I would like to take this chance to congratulate the President of this nation on his swearing in ceremony. As a House, we need to insist on peaceful coexistence among the people of this nation and we have a responsibility to talk on behalf of every Kenyan so that the country can move forward.
Traffic jam is a very serious problem in this country. It has led to wastage of a lot of resources and time. I commend the Mover for bringing this Motion because it is very important. However, I believe we have traffic rules and regulations in place. We need to do further research into the existing rules and policies to identify the gaps which should be brought to this House so that we can amend the existing laws. We should not bring Motions for debate in this House before looking at what we already have in order to strengthen what we have. If we do piece meal work like we are doing now, we will end up duplicating or complicating our laws. This will happen because of not carrying out proper research on existing rules, regulations and laws. If the existing laws have gaps, we should address them thus strengthen our laws. Currently, we do not have a vacuum in terms of traffic laws. Therefore, the Mover should do further research and a thorough analysis of the current laws. We need to plan for the future and strengthen our laws and policies. Service lanes should not only be designated to urban roads, but also to rural roads. I expect Ijara Constituency in the next 10 years to be the most progressive constituency in this country. If we do not plan and have such a vision, then we are short-sighted and are not looking into the future. Some of us have dreams for our constituencies.
In my own opinion, discipline is the most important thing when dealing with traffic in this county. There is lack of discipline among road users. We waste a lot of time because of this. We need to improve our road technology, so that we can identify drivers who defy rules for them to be charged accordingly. The roads in Nairobi can be properly used if there is discipline. We should always be mindful of other road users. I remember one day I asked my driver why he wanted to move before the other person and he told me that we would stay in that spot for 10 hours if he did not do what other drivers were doing. If everybody fails to follow traffic rules and do what other drivers do, and such drivers are not charged for the offences they are committing, we will not go far. Discipline is the most important thing.
The other thing is that this House has a lot of respect and decorum. When we are contributing to Motions and debates which the whole world is watching, we must carry ourselves with respect and decorum. A colleague was talking about Cabinet Secretaries (CSs) and saying that the police pave way for them as they go for tea with their girlfriends. It is not right for you to use women as objects in this House. We condemn it in the highest terms possible. We will not allow that. We know CSs are very important people in this country and they have been given very important roles and responsibilities on behalf of the people of this nation. When the police pave way for them, I believe they are going to attend to important matters of this country. What I am insinuating is that whenever we are talking as honourable Members – remember our name is Hon. Members of this country – please, let us not abuse the respect and decorum that this House has. We should move this House to the next level and everyone in the world will appreciate it just the way people around the world appreciate and say that we have the best and progressive Constitution in the world. I always congratulate myself because I am one of the framers of the Constitution. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me the chance. I support and ask the Mover to critically do more research on the issue. 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 believe Hon. Members have heard the contribution of Hon. Noor, Member for Ijara. I believe there is a new tarmac road being contracted in Ijara Constituency at this time. That is a good thing. Also, she has appealed to Members that obeying the law must start with us. I think it is incumbent upon us, as Members of Parliament, to obey traffic rules and follow them all the time. Sometimes, I drive on our roads and my fellow Members of Parliament are always overtaking me. So, it is true. It begins with us. We need to obey these rules as they are now even as we consider to improve and create lanes that will deal with emergencies. I will now give this opportunity to the Member for Teso South. Kindly make your maiden speech.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. First and foremost, I take this opportunity to make my maiden speech. I am a Member of Parliament for Teso South elected on an Orange Democratic Party (ODM) ticket. I thank God Almighty and the constituents of Teso South for having faith in me. I thank my party leader, the Right Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga. I also thank my family, both immediate and extended, and all those who stood with me during my campaigns. I know I will perform the best. At this point, I also thank the outgoing Member, Hon. Mary Emasse. She is my sister. We campaigned alongside other aspirants and I know we will work together so that we can achieve what the society and Kenya as a nation is supposed to achieve. I support this Motion. This issue is long overdue. I thank the Member, Hon. Julius Melly, for coming up with this Motion, which I want us to debate soberly. It is for the good of Kenya. I do not think there is any cost that is beyond human life. Even if we are going to incur a lot of costs on this, especially on the issue of KeRRA, it is worth the cost. Members have said that there is no need to incur other expenses for unnecessary roads in the rural areas. We might just put a provision that in future, we have to factor KeRRA roads. We never know. We will not remain rural forever. I support the Motion fully. I urge the implementing authorities to kindly uphold the rule of law and ensure that whichever laws are passed here are fully implemented. Finally, yesterday we witnessed the swearing in of President Uhuru Kenyatta. As NASA, we are still alive to the fact that we are not moving on. We are only saying that we are brothers and sisters of this nation and let us accept the truth that the nation is divided. It is upon the leadership to come and sit down and chart a way forward for this nation. We need each other. This House cannot be complete without NASA. Neither will it be complete without the Jubilee Party. So, whichever way we see it, this nation has to come together and it is upon the President, like he said yesterday, and the NASA leader, Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga, to see to it that we need a united Kenya that our forefathers thought about. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I support the Motion.
Honourable Member for Lamu.
Asante, Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Muda kwa kunipatia nafasi hii nami nichangie Hoja hii. Kwanza, ningependa kumpongeza Rais wetu mpendwa kwa ukakamavu wake na busara yake aliyotumia mpaka jana tukafikia kwamba Wakenya wenyewe wanasema sasa watarudi kazini. Leo tukitoka nyumbani, tumewaona Wakenya wamejitokeza kwenda kazini. Ni kama sasa tumepata nafasi ya kufanya kazi. Tulikuwa tunashikiliwa sana. Ningependa kuunga mkono Hoja hii kwa sababu ni muhimu sana barabara za kando zitengenezwe. Utafahamu zaidi kama umewahi kuwa katika ambyulensi. Mimi nimewahi kuwa ndani ya ambyulensi na mgonjwa. Wakati upo hapo ndani na mgonjwa unatamani uweke mabawa na uruke hasa ukiona hali ya mgonjwa. Barabara hizi zitasaidia sana. Kama ilivyotajwa 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.
hapa, zitapunguza kupoteza uhai wa binadamu na pia zikiwekwa zitawasaidia maafisa wa polisi wa trafiki kuwashika wale wanaovunja sheria. Jana tuliwapoteza maafisa wawili wa usalama barabarani. Sababu kubwa ni kwamba barabara ni mbaya. Najua mjenzi amepewa kandarasi ya kujenga. Tunamhimiza afanye bidii maana ikiwa barabara za Lamu zitajengwa vizuri, wahalifu na wakora hawatapata nafasi rahisi kwa sababu gari zitakuwa zikienda kwa kasi. Hawatapata nafasi ya kuwaua maafisa wetu wa usalama. Natoa rambirambi kwa familia za maafisa hao wawili ambao wameuawa wakiwa kazini wakichunga usalama Lamu. Jambo lingine nataka kusema ni kwamba watu wengine wameanza kupinga ujenzi wa barabara hizi kwa sababu kwamba pengine watu wengine watakosea kwa kutofuata sheria. Wacha zijengwe. Kuna nyumba ambazo zimejengwa kwenye njia ambapo barabara zilikuwa zijengwe. Ikiwa hatua ya kisheria itachukuliwa, au kama pia zitanunuliwa, ili barabara ijengwe, ni muhimu zijengwe na sisi tuendelee kama nchi nyingine zinavyoendelea. Kule Lamu au sehemu zingine zozote, wanaojenga barabara kwa sasa pia waanze kupanga hiyo mipango ili zijengwe kama zile za kule Mpeketoni. Saa hii, hatujaanza kuwa na milolongo ya magari lakini bandari likijengwa, kutakuwa na magari mengi na sisi tusije tukawa na shida kama zile watu wa Mombasa na sehemu zingine wanapata. Nitamalizia kwa kurudi kwa Rais. Sisi watu wa Lamu tuna matumaini na imani kubwa. Nataka Rais ajue kuwa Lamu pia ni Pwani. Nimesikia wenzetu wa Mombasa na Kilifi wanalalamika kwa sababu ya marginalisation kwamba wanatengwa. Lakini sisi watu wa Lamu tunasema hata Mombasa na Kilifi wanatutenga. Lamu pia ni Pwani na sisi tumekuwa wafuasi wakubwa wa Jubilee. Tunaomba safari hii kuwe na waziri anayetoka Lamu si Mombasa na Kilifi tu. Nafasi hizo zinapewa sana watu wa Kilifi na Mombasa. Sisi pia tunao wasomi Lamu na tunaweza kuchangia waziri. Tunamuomba Rais, kwa sababu tunajua anawapenda wanyonge, anatutetea sana na kuwapenda watu wa Lamu hadi tumepata stima, aifanye ionekane katika
yake aliyoisema kuwa Lamu pia ipate waziri safari hii.
Let us have Hon. Ngusya Nguna, Member for Mwingi West.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity. I would like to first thank Hon. Melly, the Mover of the Motion. This is a very wonderful and timely Motion. First, in urban centres, we will have a reduction of noise pollution. I have lived near hospitals and if those lanes are provided, we will have a reduction of noise pollution. Many ambulances come in and if we have service lanes, they will not make a lot of noise. Provision of these lanes will reduce noise pollution. Secondly, they will save lives. Thirdly, they will improve traffic flow. I would like to oppose the second amendment which deals with KeRRA. My constituency has no tarmac road at all. If we can first focus on, at least, providing better roads in rural areas than providing the extra lanes, it will help our economy much better. I support the Motion. I support the first amendment, but strongly oppose the second amendment.
Let us have Hon. Ogutu Abel, Member for Bomachoge Borabu.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Motion. I agree with the Hon. Members who have already contributed including the changes to the initial Motion. I have two issues that I want to focus on. 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 first one is on the discussion that we should not include rural roads. We are talking about the future, space and having land in place. If we included rural roads at this stage, then we would have catered for future designated service lanes for rural roads as they become the future urban centres. I agree and support the amendment to include KeRRA roads. Secondly, if this amendment is to hold substance, then the last statement in the initial Motion which looks at urban roads and highways should also include rural roads. I have noticed that that portion has been left out while the initial Motion had it. Thirdly, having these designated service lanes in the rural areas will first serve the pedestrians. Many rural areas do not even have space for pedestrians. We can save those areas for future conversion into different other service needs. The challenge of manning and efficiently using service lanes as we see it in urban areas is the habit of poor driving that we have on our roads. As the Motion moves to a Bill, the whole aspect of road manners and good driving on the highways should also be captured to make sure that those designated lanes purposely remain for those services that they are intended to give.
Let us have Hon. Ibrahim Abdisalan, Member for Wajir North.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Motion. I am cognisant of the fact that traffic conditions in this country have subjected Kenyans to a lot of stress, pollution, waste of time and fatigue. I am also cognisant of the fact that in Kenya, there is a culture where people do not give priority to emergency vehicles that are on emergency calls. This contributes to obstruction which always leads to loss of life. Under these circumstances, it is then necessary to have lanes that are purposely meant for emergency vehicles and hence the need for this Motion. While I support the Motion and the proposed amendments, I am also cognisant of the fact that in Kenya, the organisation that provides emergency services or response is mostly the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS). Hence, I expect that vehicles that will benefit from these services will not only be the police, ambulances and the fire engines, but also the KRCS vehicles. Looking at the 47 counties in this country, the KRCS mostly provides life-saving interventions. This is a fact and hence the need to propose an amendment to include the KRCS to benefit from these services. That said, it is also important to know that in Kenya, the level of public participation we usually conduct is not adequate to inculcate ownership in Kenyans. Therefore, there is need to create awareness on laws that are passed in this House. Many drivers are not conversant with traffic rules. That is why you find a number of obstructions happening. There is need for us to carry out adequate awareness as we also look at the possibility of upscaling public participation in a bid to inculcate ownership, not only to get opinions of Kenyans. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, emergency vehicles should also be adequately visible. A number of ambulances, except some few organisations like the KRC vehicles and others, have only the siren which is not adequate enough for visibility while some have small engines. This could be some of the reasons why they may not be in a position to provide the required emergency services.
Hon. Gakuya, what is out of order?
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, everything is in order. It was just a mistake.
No problem, Hon. Gakuya. Proceed. 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. I am saying that visibility by those providing emergency services at times is not enough. Hence the need to upscale, make it uniform and ensure that lives are not lost as a result of obstruction of emergency vehicles. We must propose harsh penalties to discourage such habits because this is what is happening in Kenya today. I will advise the Mover of the Motion to ensure that we propose harsh penalties for individuals trying or willing to obstruct emergency vehicles.
With those few remarks, I support the Motion and the amendments.
We shall have Hon. Leshoomo, Member for Samburu.
Asante sana, Mhe. Spika wa Muda, kwa kunipatia nafasi hii nichangie hii Hoja. Kabla sijachangia, nataka kutoa shukrani kwa Rais wetu kwa kuapishwa jana. Alifurahisha dunia yote kwa kuapishwa kwake. Hata sisi tumefurahi sana. Pia, natoa shukrani kwa Wakenya wote bila kujali vyama vya kisiasa. Wakenya wote walishuhudia kuapishwa kwa Rais wetu bila kujali kabila ama chama cha kisiasa. Wakenya wote walikuwa huko. Tunashukuru sana. Hiyo ni kujenga nchi yetu bila kufuata mambo ya siasa.
Pia, tunafurahi sana kwa sababu hatuna Kenya mbili, mbali ni hii moja. Kiti cha Rais ama Mbunge hakikaliwi na watu wawili. Ni mtu mmoja tu. Kwa hivyo, wote tunafurahi. Naambia wenzangu wote viongozi ya kwamba ni muhimu tushikane wote tuone kile kitu kitasaidia Wakenya. Ni kweli tumeona vile huyo mtoto amepigwa risasi. Kama mama na sisi kama viongozi tufikirie sana. Ukiangalia hayo mambo kwa runinga ni kama kuna watu wameanza kuvaa sare ya polisi. Ukiangalia hao polisi, unaweza kufikiria hawajapata mafunzo. Kwa hivyo, naomba Serikali iingilie kati hayo mambo ya sare za polisi kwa sababu watu wameanza kuzivaa.
Nikirudi kwa Hoja ya kutenga njia za gari za dharura, nakushuru kwa hii Hoja, kwa sababu tunafaa kuangalia kila barabara. Kwa ukweli, kuna culvert zingine ambazo zimetengenezwa kwa njia nzuri lakini kuna zile zinakaa kama milima. Hata ukiwa na mgonjwa, anaumia akirushwa kwa hizo culvert . Sisi ndio tunapitisha bajeti katika hili Bunge. Ningeomba pia tuangalie bajeti ya barabara, maji na hospitali ili tukipitisha wizara zipate pesa. Wakati mwingine pesa zinapitishwa na wizara hazipati hizo pesa. Ninatoka Samburu County ambayo ina shida kubwa sana. Mvua ikinyesha, barabara zote zinapasuka na watu hawawezi kwenda upande ule mwingine hata kwa hospitali na hawawezi kufanya chochote. Kwa hivyo, ningeomba kuwa mambo ya barabara yanafaa yaangaliwe zaidi.
Tukichangia mambo ya magari ya dharura, pia tuangalie mambo ya boda boda . Hapa Nairobi, nusu saa haipiti bila ya mtu wa boda boda kugongwa na gari kwa sababu hawana barabara za kupitia. Watu ambao wanasafiri kwa boda boda wanapita mbele ya magari. Inafaa tuangalie mahali boda boda zitapita kwa sababu watu wanaumia katikati ya magari.
Kwangu, tuna shida ya barabara. Ningependa kusema tuangalie sana katika wizara ambazo zina cartels ambazo zinapewa kazi ya kutengeneza barabara. Mtu anaweza kuchukua kampuni yake hapa, ipitishwe na apewe kazi ya kujenga barabara. Ningependekeza waanze kuzungumza na viongozi wa eneo Bunge wakati wanapeana hizo kandarasi ili wajue ni barabara gani zinatengenezwa na kwa namna gani. Unakuta kandarasi imepeanwa Nairobi na mtu anaenda Samburu na kiongozi hajui. Kwa hivyo, inafaa viongozi wahusishwe kwa yale mambo yanafanywa ndiyo tushirikiane pamoja tuone yamefanywa kwa njia inayotakikana. Unakuta vitu vingine vinaenda kombo kwa sababu viongozi hawaelezwi.
Naunga mkono Hoja hii. Lazima tuangalie vitu vingine ili tusaidike. Naomba ndugu zangu wa National Super Alliance (NASA) tuwe pamoja. Tumechaguliwa ili tushirikiane pamoja kama viongozi. Tunafaa kushirikiana na kufanye kazi ya wananchi. 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.
Asante, Mhe. Naibu Spika wa Muda, kwa kunipatia nafasi hii.
We shall now have Hon. Okuome Adipo, Member for Karachuonyo.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity.
Hon. Wamunyinyi, Hon. Okuome will be heard in silence.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for protection. I want to start by giving my thanks to my constituents for giving me this opportunity to serve in this honourable House. I am glad to join my colleagues here and hope that we will work together for the good of this great country.
I must say that when I was elected to come to this House, I felt that I would make my maiden speech with a warm heart, but it is sad. This is not the case because the experience I have gone through with my colleagues throughout the last three months is not a good one to be happy about. I have seen children being killed. I have seen men and women being killed. In my constituency, we have buried four people. That is not something one can be proud of.
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I wish as Members of this House, we can act together as team when a Kenyan is killed for no reason whatsoever. When it comes to killing, we should join our hands together and not think of our ethnic origins, political parties, but think of the Kenyan who has died for no reason at all. Yesterday is a good example. Those who watched television saw people dying for no reason at all. There was no NASA demonstration yesterday. It was a prayer session for the departed souls. Think of the mother who lost a seven-year-old boy who was playing on the veranda of their house. Where else could the little boy be playing? What could he do to protect himself apart from being in his mother’s house? But he met his death there. That tells us that Kenya has reached a point where we as Members of this House must be concerned.
When the President was speaking yesterday, he asked for peace and togetherness. But surely, we must ask ourselves why we do not have peace and togetherness. I appeal to my colleagues here that let us find out why there is no peace and togetherness. It started with the kind of elections we held in this country. I wish the Members of this House can live in accordance to the laws that we pass so that if someone breaks them, we join hands together to protect that law. Otherwise, there will be no purpose for formulating the laws if they do not mean anything at all.
I know one will say that the President was elected. But surely, his election is the cause of the turmoil we are seeing. Many, including me, believe that his election was not fair and transparent. Many share this feeling with me. If that is the case, do we Members of Parliament just watch and say hallelujah? Surely, we can only help this country by pointing out what is bad. It does not matter whether whoever did it is in my party or not. We should accept that this is good even if it comes from the other side of the House.
On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.
Hon. Members, you know the rules. He is making his maiden speech. He will be heard in silence. Hon. Member, proceed. 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. Andrew Adipo Okuome)] Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. The Member interrupting me made his maiden speech sometime back and nobody interrupted him. I wish he could give me the same opportunity.
My feeling is that we can make this country a great place to live in if, in this House, we think of Kenya first and nothing else. I know the situation ahead of us is not that easy. I know the other side is happy to see the Members of NASA here, but we are here, especially for myself, to express my sad feelings about what I am seeing happening in this country. If it needs divine intervention, I wish we could have all our churches praying for this country so that our leaders can have dialogue in which they will face the situation we are in squarely without hiding anything. They should face it for the purpose of finding a solution. There is a solution for sure. If it is true the election was not well conducted, does it matter if Kenyans agree we repeat it? There is nothing wrong with that. What is good is what Kenyans want. I pray that we see Kenya in the real perspective and make correct action as urgently as possible so that the country can stand among the nations of the world as the best.
If we are true to ourselves, true to our feelings and true to our hearts, we will see the real situation in Kenya, face it and correct it. We will not get anybody saying the contrary. I wish for a situation whereby even an independent candidate can stand for the presidency and win it and we congratulate him or her because he or she has won it fairly.
On a point of order, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.
The Temporary Deputy Speaker has ruled that I cannot be interrupted because I am making my maiden speech. You are not going to control the debate because you are not in the Chair.
This is my prayer. I want a Kenya anybody would want to live in. A Kenya in which democracy and nothing else guides our future, our path and everything we want to do so that Kenya can be glorified by all of us including those who wanted to ask me questions.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker.
Hon. Members, you know our rules. The Hon. Member was in his maiden feet, as it were. He is allowed to have his say without interruption. Sometimes, people will say things that may not be too agreeable to you.
Hon. Sankok, I have not given you the opportunity. I am just advising you that sometimes things that are not agreeable to you will be said. That is the nature of this House. We are all politicians and we have opinions and we come from different divides. So, sometimes people say things that may not be too pleasing to your ears, but we do not have to fight them.
So that we can make progress, let us have the Member for Runyenjes.
Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion. First and foremost, I wish to congratulate His Excellency Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and his deputy for being sworn in for a second term. I pledge support to them. We will support them to deliver on their mandate. Coming back to the Motion, I wish to thank the Mover, Hon. Melly for coming up with such a good idea. The value of life and properties cannot be underscored by anyone. I happen to have been under a situation that was very troubling. One of my relatives was put in an ambulance and it left Runyenjes Constituency and took a very short time to Nairobi. But it took much time from the University Way to Kenyatta National Hospital. Unfortunately, we lost him in that short 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.
distance because of traffic. I fully support the idea of coming up with lanes that would allow fire engines and ambulances to use to save lives and property. It is important for the Mover of this Motion to think around the rules that should govern the usage of service lanes. Many times, we have seen people in this country bending traffic rules by overtaking anyhow and in many cases causing accidents. It is important, as we think about service lanes, we also think about the rules that should govern the usage of these lanes so that we make it a smooth undertaking to have vehicles moving on those lanes. Again, I want to put forward my reservations about the inclusion of KeRRA in this affair. We are coming from constituencies where roads require the attention of KeRRA. It is important that we do not become very ambitious or even overambitious by requiring KeRRA to be put into this matter. Even as we plan for the future, it is important we plan with the available resources. We require a lot of resources to put up service lanes on our rural areas. As we put up lanes for ambulances and fire engines in the rural areas, we have roads in our constituencies that require our attention. So, if we pass this Motion without considering that eventually we will need resources to implement this, then we may not realise what we are looking for. So, I support this Motion as it is, but request Hon. Julius Melly to consider thinking about the rules to govern the usage of the lanes. Thank you.
The Member for Ndhiwa. I believe this is your maiden speech.
Yes, it is.
Hon. Members, just a direction. I am receiving complaints that some Members are saying that they are on their maiden feet while they have spoken before. That would amount to abuse of the rules of the House. If that is the case, you know the consequences. The record of Parliament is permanent. So, let us treat ourselves with dignity and grace. Let us be honest with ourselves. Member for Ndhiwa, this is your maiden speech. You shall be heard in silence.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. May I first of all thank the Almighty God, who gave me the opportunity to represent the people of Ndhiwa in this House. Allow me to appreciate all the voters who voted for me in their language, which they understand most. To the women, I say tialala. To all the men who came out and guarded the votes, I say tibim. To all the seniors who braved the chilly weather, I say Kuomi.
Hon. Member for Ndhiwa, I do not want to interrupt, but I would just direct you to use parliamentary language as you make your maiden speech.
It is so ordered. Therefore, I will. Allow me to say a few words for those who planted these fruits. As they say, when you pick up fruits, you also have to respect the people who planted the tree. I want to congratulate our first legislator huda thuon gweno . I also want to congratulate Ocholla Mac’Onyango, the late, who was very effective in this House. I also want to honour Hon. Odero Jowi, who followed. I also want to honour Hon. Otieno Ogingo. All these came from Ndhiwa, and they did a wonderful job while in this House. On that note, I also want to send condolences. He has just lost his wife. Also allow me to say kudos to Hon. Owino Olang’, Hon. Tom Obondo, Hon. Orwa Ojode sirkal the late, who represented my constituency effectively in this House, as well as to my predecessor, Hon. Agostinho Neto. 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.
Ndhiwa is a very nice constituency. I welcome all of you to visit us at one time or the other. As for the Motion, I rise to oppose it. Life is important whether it is in the urban area or the rural area. When we talk of additional service lanes, in Ndhiwa, I am losing mothers. We are experiencing maternal and neonatal deaths at the highest rate ever. What would be done to help our traffic and deal with road carnage should be a very well thought out multifaceted agenda. You cannot fix traffic jam in Nairobi or any other urban area by supplying hardware. What we have is the problem of behaviour. When an ambulance is signalling to pass and motorists just stay on the steering, not even moved that there is an emergency, then there is a problem. This a good Motion, but it is not going to address the problem we have. We have to fix our behavioural problem first and also enforce traffic laws and then we can talk of additional lanes and service lanes. I had an opportunity to live in the west. Once they hear the signal, everybody pulls aside because they understand what emergency is. It does not matter how many lanes you are going to add to this. With the kind of prevailing behaviour, they will still jam the road. This Motion, when it becomes a Bill, will have costs to go with. There is a Member who said that when it comes to the Bill, with the cost that it carries, even the rural roads will suffer. Let us face it. We do not have much money. At the moment, there are constructions going on in urban areas. If those are the roads that will be used as emergency service lanes, so be it. However, if we are talking of having additional roads, there is no money. Let us address the issues of traffic jams and road carnage through a multi-sectoral approach so that we can have a multifaceted way of dealing with these issues. I oppose. Allow me to also say a few words about what is going on in our country. It is something that both parties should stand up and condemn instead of telling our leaders only what they want to hear. That will not help us. Yesterday, we had a peaceful meeting towards Jacaranda. All of a sudden, a truckload of police officers came with teargas and bullets. It is in our Constitution that no one should take the law into their own hands. The comments that we heard when they were breaking that crowd, you cannot believe it. They were quite tribal and for what reason? It was not just that kid who was killed. About five people were shot dead yesterday. For what? It appears to us that these people are not policemen. Police officers are trained to follow the law. The people who stopped our prayers yesterday were thugs in police uniform. Something has to be done immediately. We are not going to lose lives for the sake of self-accomplishment. We are tying these laws to traffic laws. If people cannot follow the law, then what we are trying to do is meaningless. I would also like to say that there are no roads in Ndhiwa. We have ambulances, but they cannot take people who are sick from their homes to the dispensaries. I will not support what adds on to what people have in urban areas. When the colonial government left, they were staying and developing urban areas. They forgot the rural areas. So, when we took over, are we going to follow the same thing? Let us focus on roads so that our facilities like health centres and schools are connected because there are human beings living there. When there are emergencies, they would like to get to where they can be helped. Hon. Melly, with all due respect, this is a good Motion, but it lacks what we should take to overcome the problems we are facing. I would therefore like to appeal to you to review and consider all sectors and strategies so that we can come up with a new Motion. I oppose this Motion. Thank you, Hon. Speaker.
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Hon. Aladwa, I would just like to alert you that there are rules of the House. When you are on one side, you cannot cross on the other side without giving respect to the House. We all need to give respect to this House. With those directions, I would like to ask Hon. Melly to reply.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I wish to donate one minute to the Member for Kajiado, one minute to the Member for Trans Nzoia, one minute to the Member for Nakuru, Hon. Chelule and one minute to Hon. Gikaria, the Member for Nakuru Town.
Hon. Melly, you are donating one minute each to those Members?
Yes, starting with the Member for Kajiado.
Hon. Member for Tana River and Hon. Shamalla, were the next ones. I would like you to give them a minute each.
With all due respect to the Chair, I will donate one minute to each of them.
Those are five Members.
Do not forget the Member for Kajiado.
Member for Kajiado
Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to thank Hon. Melly for his donation of one minute. I support the Motion. The dedicated lanes are very important on our roads for the movement of ambulances, fire engines and for the police to move and save lives and sort out problems on the roads. I would also like you to note that we have people living with disabilities who use tricycles and wheelchairs. These lanes are very important for them. I want to urge Hon. Melly to ensure that there are governing rules. Even if we have the lanes and we do not follow the rules, we can misuse the lanes. Thank you, I support.
Very well. Next Member was who?
Asante, Mhe. Spika Naibu wa Muda. Ningependa kuchukua nafasi hii kumshukuru mwenzangu, Mhe. Melly, kwa kunipa nafasi hii kuchangia Hoja hii. Kabla ya hiyo, ningependa kutoa nafasi hii kumshukuru Rais pamoja na Naibu wake kwa kupatiwa nafasi kuongoza kwa muhula wa pili. Ningependa kuchangia Hoja hii kwa sababu ya barabara zetu. Nashukuru ndugu yangu, Mhe. Melly, kwa kufikiria kuwepo kwa barabara za magari ya dharura ili kuwasaidia watu wetu. Ukija Trans Nzoia County, utaona kwamba barabara kule mashinani si nzuri. Kuna magari, tractor s na pikipiki ambazo zinatumia barabara hizo. Ningependa kuunga mkono nikisema kuwa tunafaa kuwa na Mswada kuhusu mambo haya ya barabara na magari ambayo yanatumia barabara hizi. Vile wenzangu wamezungumza, ni lazima tuwe na usalama wa kutosha katika barabara zetu. Ningependa pia kushutumu kitendo cha mauaji ya kijana mdogo jana.
Very well. Hon. Member, your minute is gone. Hon. Chelule.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me this opportunity to support the Motion that is on the Floor by Hon. Melly. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Hon. Melly. This is a very important Motion. Before I support it, I also want to take this opportunity on behalf of the people of Nakuru to congratulate our President 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.
and the Deputy President for being sworn in yesterday. I believe all of us, as Members of this House, will support them in their development agenda. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is very important for me to support this Motion and I strongly do. This is about lives. We have all witnessed loss of lives especially in ambulances and other emergencies. There is traffic congestion and if we shall have service lanes throughout this country, lives will be saved.
Hon. Gikaria.
Thank you Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. First, I would like to thank my brother, Hon. Melly, for the good Motion he has brought before this House. I do not want to repeat what has been said. Having a service lane is very important. If you look at the number of cars on traffic, you cannot even change a tyre. I urge the respective counties that as they do that and as we have the service lane in place, we should also have public facilities such as toilets and shops. You just find people walking into the bush. We need to consider the people who will be undertaking emergencies. I am hoping that once we approve this Motion, Hon. Melly will make a follow up so that the Ministry concerned can push and have a budget for the same.
Very well Hon. Gikaria. Hon. Rehema.
Asante sana Naibu Spika wa Muda and Mhe. Melly. Nimesimama kuunga mkono Hoja hii. Kabla sijazungumzia barabara zetu, ningependa kujiunga na wanawake wenzangu kutoka Tana River kwa sababu ya visa vya ubakaji ambavyo vimezidi. Nikiwa hapa, ningependa kusema, County Commissioner awajibike ili wanaohusika wachukuliwa hatua kwa sababu tumepoteza mtoto kwa sababu ya ubakaji. Mwingine alipata mimba akajiuwa. Mambo haya yamekua zaidi kwa watu wa Tana River. Nikiunga mkono Hoja hii, ningependa kusema kuwa kabla hatujafikiria service lanes mnazozungumzia, barabara yetu kuu ishughulikiwe. Nikiunga mkono Hoja hii ya barabara, ningependa kusema kuwa sisi katika Tana River, kabla hatujafikia hizo service lanes mnazozungumzia, barabara yenyewe ishughulikiwe. Isikuwe ndio imekaa kama kitega uchumi, kila saa inafanyiwa ukarabati. Tunataka tujengewe barabara nzuri kama wenzetu. Kwa upande wa barabara za magari ya dharura, ninaunga mkono kwa sababu ya boda boda na hao wengine.
Hon. Hassan, your minute is gone. Hon. Shamalla.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I first want to give praise to Yahweh El-Ohim for the inauguration ceremony that we had yesterday. It is because of him that we have come thus far. I rise to support this Motion. I agree that traffic pollution is a great danger, not only to time, but even to the health of our citizens and the people who ply those routes. Indeed, I agree with this Motion by Hon. Melly and I hope and pray that he will look at it holistically and take a multi-sectoral approach. Not only should there be an emergency lane, but also a breakdown lane. We must also look at issues of light rail and technology when it comes to enforcing penalties for traffic offenders.
Hon. Melly, you have a minute to just wind up.
Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I want to thank all Members for wonderful contributions, for bringing a lot of insights into this Motion. This is a very important Motion. As I had indicated earlier, I am moving on to develop a Bill so that it will 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.
have the multi-sectoral approach and ensure that our emergency services like the police and fire brigades are assisted. I want to thank all Members for their contributions and good inputs. I move.
Hon. Members, the time being 1.00 p.m., this House stands adjourned until this afternoon at 2.30 p.m.
The House rose at 1.00 p.m.
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