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{
    "id": 1152077,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1152077/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 48,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cherargei",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13217,
        "legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
        "slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
    },
    "content": "It is good to be back. I hope as we go to the final leg of the Senate, God willing, I hope to see a number of us back so that we can continue to defend devolution. I congratulate Sen. Dr. Musuruve. Article 41 of the Labour Relations Act is very clear on the issue of labour rights. Every person who works in Kenya has a right to a salary, remuneration and emolument. These are rights that belong to every worker in this Republic. I saw the President say that there is an increment of 12 per cent. However, the price and cost of living and basic commodities has shoot up by 38 per cent. The price of cooking oil is astronomically higher as we are talk. The price of bread is approaching Kshs65. Milk, which is produced abundantly in Nandi County is now not available in most of the supermarkets and shops across the country because of the high cost of living. These are problems that laborers are facing in Kenya. It is sad that we have turned the issue of labour movement to a public relations stunt. In as much as there was an increment of 12 per cent to the lowest minimum wage, the price of basic commodities shot up by 38 per cent and this continues to haunt Kenyans. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as we talk today, most of the laborers in this country cannot take their children to Form One. I hope the Standing Committee on Education will seize this matter. In some schools before students are given admission to Form One, they must pay commitment fee. We want to challenge the Cabinet Secretary (CS) in charge of the Ministry of Education to rein in school heads and principals who take commitment fee of more than Kshs10,000. These are the workers that we are talking about who earn Kshs1,000. Some of them are domestic workers and casual laborers that are being hired by agencies, Government and other organizations. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg you that the issue of laborers in this country need to be relooked at. In Article 41 of the Constitution, the drafters envisioned that labourers should have a salary. If you remember, in the Employment (Amendment) Act, I proposed that workers should not be accessed beyond 8 a.m to 5 p.m through phone calls. Those are the rights that we need to protect. Many people have confused the rights of laborers as only salary, emoluments and allowances. They are not aware that it is more to it than salary. Rights include off days, payment of leave days and overtime. These are some of the proposals that we need to look at as we go to the future. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the second point is the issue of Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). The SRC under the, Constitution, was formed as an advisory body in terms of salary, remuneration and management of workers allowances. It is sad that SRC has abrogated itself the powers that does not exist in the Constitution. They are regulating salaries and allowances without following the Labor Relations Act or advising the agencies. That is why most of the workers continue to suffer. As we go into the next Parliament, we must take care of the monster called SRC so that it stops abrogating itself powers that it does not have."
}