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{
    "id": 1072510,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1072510/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 177,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Sen. Khaniri continues to distinguish himself as a Senator who clearly and consistently brings issues that are affecting not just the people of Vihiga but also the people of Kenya. I would like to thank Sen. Khaniri, my distinguished elder brother for bringing this. I do not know what words can be used truly to express the situation that many Kenyans are going through. Things are tough. We need to move beyond just commiserating with them. I like the example that Sen. Cheruiyot has used of people in my county. Many people in ivory towers think that these people are walking long distances for fitness or they are walking because they want to exercise. You are going to Baba Dogo, the industries in Lunga Lunga and you live in Kibera or Kawangware. You are going to earn Kshs300. The matatu fare to the city centre is Kshs100. If you choose to go by public transport, which is a whole other issue we need to address because there is nothing public about our transport. The only thing public is the road and the people. It is really private. However, if you choose to use public transport, you will not get food for your children. It is a choice between food or transport. When 48 percent of discharge is foreign exchange adjustments and fuel surcharges, the tax component brings it around to 60 percent, then there is need for a solution. It means we are not listening to what the people are saying. It is not just the commuters; all aspects of our economy are affected. In the North Rift, ploughing costs have gone up by 30 percent because the owners of tractors are now charging Kshs3,000 because of the increase in fuel cost, meaning the increase of the cost of food production to the farmer. He will then pass on that to the ordinary person. For us to truly address the cost of living we must be innovative in that pricing formula. Yes, the Government must earn its taxes but it costs us nothing to say that because now fuel is Kshs127 and kerosene is now Kshs98, which is what many people are using in their houses. There was a plan to bring wananchi cooking gas but it ran into tender woes. We can say that, yes, use the pricing model but if it goes above Kshs100 that extra is then cushioned by either temporary adjustment of that tax or by that fund that was created for that specific purpose. That is a one-line amendment. We can do that and save Kenyans. All of these people who are hustling or looking for a living they are just trying to eke out a living. The ordinary mwananchi today feels that everything around them is set up for their failure. That is why they will not understand all these other big projects you are trying to do. They will not understand the expressway that you are trying to build in"
}