Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has revealed that government officials get hundreds of thousands to use for access through the Nairobi Expressway.
Speaking during a senate proceeding on Wednesday, July 3, Sifuna said that he currently has Ksh377,000 in his ETC card, provided by the government.
The Nairobi Senator termed the amount as outrageous, adding that when he was first assigned a government vehicle it was even higher.
“Excuse me if I am giving out house secrets. When I became the deputy minority whip, I was located a vehicle, a GK vehicle. On the first day that I used that vehicle, I passed through the expressway, I was shocked at the amount of money on my ETC card for my parliamentary car.
“As of this morning, when I used the car, there is Ksh377,000 on my ETC. It does not make sense. What you do, MPs and staff of parliament have to be honest with Kenyans,” said Sifuna.
The Senator has called for better budgeting for parliamentarians, calling for a way to reduce the expenditure and relieve Kenyans of the tax burden piling on them.
According to the senator, he could use the expressway for a year without depleting the amount loaded on his ETC card, and he really did not need it.
“There is a way of reducing the budget in this house that will reduce the burden on Kenyans. We honestly do not need all that money, even if I ran up and down the expressway for a year, I would never exhaust Ksh377,000.
“We must do this so that we demonstrate to the people that we are serious about what we are talking about,” added the Senator.
At the same time, he highlighted the importance of addressing the crisis Kenya is facing adding that it is time to listen to the youth.
“We are in a place where we have never been in terms of the crisis that is facing us. All I hear the young people saying is that we as a leadership now need to stop talking and listen to these young people,” added Sifuna.
