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"id": 106647,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/106647/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Ms. Murugi",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Gender and Children Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 77,
"legal_name": "Esther Murugi Mathenge",
"slug": "esther-murugi"
},
"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I think this Bill is long overdue and especially for people coming from Mt. Kenya because men in this region are an endangered species just because of alcohol. Every type of alcohol that is brewed in this Republic is brought to Central Kenya. We, 25 Wednesday, 7th April, 2010(A) the politicians, are actually the ones who run the bars there. So, I hope that when this Bill comes into operation, we will ensure that alcohol is not consumed anyhow. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, a sneak preview of the census of last year indicated that the birth rate for Central Kenya had gone down to 1.8 percent. That is why women from Central Kenya are crying that they have lost their men. They have just figureheads, they have no men. As the previous speaker said, they do not even sleep on their beds. They sleep under the beds because they cannot perform and also they wet the beds like the young children because they have lost control of their bladders. I think this is really overdue, and once we pass it, we must also ensure that it is implemented. One of the reasons why drunkenness is so high in Central Kenya is because of the packaging. If you go to any bar, you can buy a small sachet for Kshs10. So it means everybody can afford to buy the brew. I would urge the Kenya Bureau of Standards to also check the ingredients that are being used to make these brews because at one time, we know people have gone blind, people have died from drinking some strange brews that are brought into Central Kenya. I do not know whether there is somebody who is trying to finish the men from Central Kenya. I sometimes get the feeling that, that tribe wants to be wiped out for one reason or another. So the packaging of the brews and the ingredients used in those brews must also be checked out. We must be assured that what is put in these brews is good for our young people. In a district like Kirinyaga, the number of bars is more than primary schools. One wonders what is going on. So, we must address this issue. We must save our men if we have to save our race. In this case, I have in mind the people from Central Kenya. Some bars have never closed doors from the day they opened. They are open throughout. The day they get the licence, although the hours state very clearly that they should open at 2.00 p.m. and close at 11.00 p.m.; nobody checks to ensure that the bars are closed. They are open throughout. Unless we address this issue as soon as possible, we will be in problems. Even education has now become an issue. That is why the girl child in Central Kenya is doing much better than the boy child. About 65 per cent of households are headed by women because the men are no longer there. When the men are there, they are just figures. They are just pictures. They are not men that you would really call men. Even as we pass this Bill, we the Members of Parliament are the culprits. We are the ones who mostly entice our young men, especially during campaigns to drinking alcohol. High levels of drunkenness are recorded during the campaign trails. If we were to make the packaging of alcohol much bigger, most people would not afford it. We could even make it more expensive. If we do that, this Bill will not be necessary. However, as it is, we must address this issue. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we had the Kazi kwa Vijana Programme, it was sad. As soon as the young people were employed, they went to sign vouchers in bars to get beer because they were now on a payroll and they could afford to drink. So, even the money they got did not contribute to the welfare of their families. They use it to drink alcohol. I fully support this Bill, but we must also ensure that the DCs and the chiefs implement the law. Chiefs and police should not be allowed to run bars. This is because if they do so, they will not implement the laws."
}