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{
"id": 1496992,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1496992/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wakili Sigei",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": "within fourteen days from the date on which the notification of nomination was given in accordance with Section 5. (2) At the conclusion of an approval hearing, the Committee shall prepare its report on the suitability of the candidate to be appointed to the office to which the candidate has been nominated, and shall include in the report, such recommendations as the Committee may consider necessary.” Hon. Senators, the period on the matter that is now before Parliament starts running upon the Speakers of the Houses of Parliament committing the name of the nominee to the relevant committees in the Senate and the National Assembly respectively. Standing Order No.77(1) of the Senate Standing Orders provides that- “Upon receipt of a notification of nomination for appointment to a public office required to be approved by the Senate under the Constitution or any other legislation, the nomination shall stand committed to the relevant Standing Committee for consideration.” This being the case, the Message from His Excellency the President, together with the CV of the nominee stands committed to the Standing Committee on Finance and Budget for approval hearing. The Committee will hold the approval hearing jointly with the Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade of the National Assembly, in accordance with the provision of the Central Bank of Kenya Act, the Pubic Appointments (Parliamentary Approval) Act, and the Standing Orders of the Houses of Parliament. Part 26 is on the Joint Committees of Parliament. The Senate Standing Orders and the corresponding part of the National Assembly Standing Orders shall apply during the approval hearing. I direct the Committees to expeditiously consider this matter and table a report thereon considering the remaining time before the conclusion of the Third Session. I thank you. Hon. Members, that nomination is hereby committed to the Standing Committees as directed. I call Sen. Karungo Thangw’a to make his contributions on the Bill."
},
{
"id": 1496993,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "(Resumption of debate on Bill)"
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{
"id": 1496994,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1496994/?format=api",
"text_counter": 216,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Thang’wa",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for the opportunity to also weigh in on this Bill. From the onset, I have tried to understand what this Bill is trying to cure, but I cannot. If this Bill will come the way it is, I will surely not support it. I will oppose it because the Kenyan motto from the beginning when the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was alive was Harambee. Harambee means coming together, pulling together to help each other. If we can legislate on our motto, we are over legislating. If we can come up with restrictions and rules against our motto and what we believe in, then I believe we have lost it. This Bill was supposed to have only two clauses only meant stop the state and public officers from engaging in harambees and dishing out cash publicly, enticing The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1496995,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1496995/?format=api",
"text_counter": 217,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Thang’wa",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "people or pulling them towards their agenda. However, when you read it, it is curtailing the belief that Kenyans have always had. Harambees or fundraisers have built schools and provided medical assistance to people who are very vulnerable. We have helped families to come out of hardship. We have done harambees and fundraisers to buy someone a cow or a boda boda or help someone start a small business. However, we are told that for you to do that, you have to register 14 days prior to that event. Some of these fundraisers are emergencies. Everybody who has spoken to this has mentioned that the Government is supposed to make the lives of our people very easy and not harder. If you say that you need 14 days to apply for a permit to conduct a harambee, yet it is an emergency caused by the Social Health Authority (SHA) and Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) cards that did not work--- You know what our hospitals do - They cannot admit a patient unless money is paid. They need a deposit to admit a patient. If the health systems of our country were working, maybe we would not be worried with this. Kenyans are known for coming together. Even the Government through Red Cross, has invited Kenyans to come together to contribute to save Kenyans because of disasters. We had the Kenya for Kenya Initiative. Now, if we make harambees and fundraisers very hard to achieve, they will be like drugs. We will now convert the good gestures of helping each other like a drug. People will be helping while hiding, yet politicians will be able to flush their money when helping and taking pictures so that they can get votes. We are however curtailing those who do not want votes, but are there to help each other. Why we are stopping them? The reason I would oppose this Bill is the undue restriction on charitable activities. If you read clause 14(2), it says- “A person who intends to conduct a public fundraiser appeal shall submit to the Cabinet Secretary or the respective County Executive Committee Member (CECM, as the case may be, an application for a permit, at least 14 days before the date of the conduct of the fundraising appeal.” Someone is looking for money and we are asking them to travel to look for a Cabinet Secretary or CECM. Remember, every county has one headquarters, so, we are asking someone to travel from one place to another to go and apply for a permit. That is why I said we are over-legislating. We are even telling people that when they conduct a harambee, the administrative money that they are going to use should not exceed five percent of what they are going to collect. How do I even know how much I am going to collect? If people do not turn up and I was so prepared with Kshs1,000,000 or Kshs500 or even Kshs10,000, and I receive Kshs3,000, that becomes a crime. The most important issue is not to make Kenyans feel as if we are on their throats; that whenever they try to help each other, the Government and askari wa kanjo are there telling them that they saw them having a harambee the other day and would want to have some amount from what was contributed. The other issue is that Clause 13 is an infringement of the freedom of association. Yes, I understand that a state officer should not conduct harambees. However, why are we stopping them from association? Not every state or public officer is a thief or corrupt. Probably the little money they have will not be enough to cater for some of the sudden emergencies. It could be your harambee, but you cannot even contribute in your The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1496996,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1496996/?format=api",
"text_counter": 218,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Thang’wa",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "harambee. You cannot even tell people the little amount that you have. That is infringing on freedom of association. We should come up with a way to stop the public officers, but not as stated in Clause 13. It is also an offence for an aspiring candidate to attend a harambee three years prior to the next election. It is like we decide to run for an election five or four years before the election. When do you make the decision to run for an election seat? You can make that decision tomorrow or a few days before the end of the closure of registration. This Bill should only work to stop money laundering and politicians from flashing monies for the sake of wooing the voters. However, we should not stop the aspiring candidates from going for these harambees. As I conclude, we have to work to make sure that we do not get into the privacy of people."
},
{
"id": 1496997,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1496997/?format=api",
"text_counter": 219,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wakili Sigei",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. Karungo, resume your seat."
},
{
"id": 1496998,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1496998/?format=api",
"text_counter": 220,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "(Sen. Thang’wa resumed his seat)"
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{
"id": 1496999,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1496999/?format=api",
"text_counter": 221,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wakili Sigei",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": "As you conclude, I invoke the provisions of Standing Order No.34 (2) (a) to extend the sitting for five minutes to allow you to conclude your contribution."
},
{
"id": 1497000,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1497000/?format=api",
"text_counter": 222,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Thang’wa",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. You are the best. I was about to conclude. If you look at Clause 32, it says that- “Every person who conducts a fundraising appeal shall keep a record reflecting the income and expenditure relating to the appeal” Then, it gives details. This is an administrative burden. You are telling me that everybody who comes must write their name and say how much they have contributed. There is a clause that I do not remember, but it says that the contributor must declare the source of their income. We are scaring away the donors. We have private donors, people who want to help anonymously. Why state that we should write their names down? Now, who is going to keep this record? I was in Arusha the other day. When I talked about Harambee, I thought this happened only in Kenya. I was in Arusha last week with the Committee of Liaison, and as I was walking in the streets, a young man approached me with an exercise book that had a photo of a young guy stuck on it. He asked me to help since they had lost one of the boda boda guys. I thought this was unique to Kenya. This is an African spirit of helping one another. Now, if we restrict it so much, we will only burden, oppress and make them feel as if Kenya does not belong to them. In conclusion, there are also disproportionate penalties. The Bill states that if a state officer attends a Harambee, you will be fined about Kshs5 million or Kshs2 million, or three years in prison. It should be proportional to how much you contribute. I mean, if I contribute Kshs1,000 and you fine me Kshs5 million, are you helping me in any way? You should actually put it as if it is two or three times what you contributed in that Harambee. When we overfine or charge crimes, the crime goes up because now the police officer will be bribed. We should not create channels of corruption by trying to stop it and by trying to stop people from helping each other. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1497001,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1497001/?format=api",
"text_counter": 223,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Thang’wa",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "If the Mover of this Bill does not change, as the Members have said here today, I do not see this Bill seeing the light of the day. Thank you."
}
]
}