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{
    "id": 1085133,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1085133/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 132,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Khaniri",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 171,
        "legal_name": "George Munyasa Khaniri",
        "slug": "george-khaniri"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank you for the opportunity. I am making a Statement on the increased rate of unemployment caused by the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. I need to notify you that there is a little variation to the Statement that you approved because of the statistics. You remember this is a Statement that you approved a couple of months ago but statistics have changed. So, I have just incorporated the new statistics otherwise the Statement remains the same. Pursuant to the provisions of our Standing Order No. 47 (1), I rise to make a Statement on an issue of general topical concern that is the increased rate of unemployment and economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the COVID-19 pandemic came with a lot of loss and drastic negative effects in people’s daily lives. The biggest effect has been loss of income felt by the businesses, employers and employees. The pandemic has exacerbated the unemployment situation in the country leaving a significant number of people especially the youth jobless. The rate of unemployment and underemployment in Kenya has been high but the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened it significantly. On the economic front, the worst hit sectors are the tourism, transport, horticulture and communication. In addition, small businesses and the self-employed in all sectors have not had it any easier either. Due to the lockdown measures imposed to curb the spread of the virus, business operations have had to reduce significantly thus greatly affecting small businesses’ profits. Whereas before people could conduct their business for as they wanted, the curfew brought limitation to that. The pandemic has forced many businesses in the country to lay off staff, slash employees’ salaries and for some to close down. Mr. Speaker, Sir, according to a report released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) on the 1st September, 2020, this was six months into the pandemic, the unemployment rate had doubled to 10.4 per cent as compared to 5.2 per cent in March of 2020. This percentage could have gone higher because we are now one year and four months into the pandemic. As many as 1.7 million Kenyans as of September 2020 had lost their jobs due to the pandemic. We can only imagine how much worse the situation is now. According to the same report, the number of employed individuals in Kenya had shrunk from 17.8 million to 15.9 million. More worrying is that the age bracket affected the most by unemployment are our youths ranging from 20 to 29 years. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in his remarks in August 2020, His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta expressed optimism that Generation Unlimited (Gen U) will intervene in this situation by assisting the Government in unlocking the potential of Kenyan youths. The Gen U is a United Nations (UN) youth empowerment program that was launched in 2018 with a goal of ensuring that young people aged 10 to 24 years are either in school, training or employment by the year 2030. However, not much of this is being seen ten months after the promise was made. Our youth are still suffering and those in self-employment are still facing harsh realities. Over the period of the pandemic the Government rolled out Kazi Mtaani but even that has not been sustainable as we all know. The news that the international financial The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}