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{
    "id": 1234182,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1234182/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 294,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Bureti, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kibet Komingoi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to contribute and support this Motion concerning what is actually gender violence against our women and sexual exploitation in the tea plantations in Kericho. First, I want to commend the Committee Members for the Report that they did and the work, plus the time that they put in it. I also want to commend the Woman Representative of Kericho County for raising this matter and bringing it to light so that we can discuss it, share the things that we know on the same and condemn in the strongest terms possible, “sex for work” in our tea estates. First, the Report raised a question on the policies of the companies within the tea estates. They make decisions for profit while ignoring the affairs of human dignity and how to deal with humans. That has given birth to what we now know as sexual exploitation within the tea estates. The policy to sub-contract labour is a profit-motivated decision that is ignoring what may happen to the employees in that environment. Secondly, I want to state that Ekaterra, one of the companies facing those allegations, is known to have condoned and acted in cahoots with criminals that caused all those offences. If you may recall, in the Report, the DCI was downplaying the whole issue. The company itself was trying to make sure that this is not known. The company did not respond to the media houses when they asked questions. It will not be forgotten that the previous immediate administrator of Ekaterra, Mr. Nick, had married one of the employees of the institution. It looks to us as Hon. Members and the people of Kericho County that this is a practice that they have continued to engage in. Whereas they purport to have clear policies and regulations that govern and protect our women, they have not been enforced. In the Report, no one came forward to report those things. They had toll free lines, but the employees still felt victimised from the kind of things that happened to them after making reports. Three, because I come from Kericho County, I am aware of the investigations the company is currently doing. However, they have ignored the Report of the DCI. They have not allowed the DCI to come in. I am aware they have hired a private investigator, Mr. Hillary Lombard, a man who had been hired before and did not raise those sexual offences. He is currently spearheading the investigations into sexual offences within the organisation. We must report here and let the country know that those investigations that are being carried out are skewed, biased and intended to punish people rather than resolve the prevailing situation on the ground. The current situation in almost all the companies in Kericho tea plantations is that, whereas it is good to investigate all the male managers, they are being harassed. A committee has been formed by the company of only three people, all of them non-locals. I receive the committee with the hope that it will rise up and bring out the issues in-depth. However, the locals feel that they are being excluded in all those things. One thing that must come out clearly is that the company must take full responsibility of what is happening within its institutions. In my opinion, I do not see why the current Managing Director of Finlays and the current Head of Plantations at Ekaterra are still in office, having presided over such heinous crimes against our women, daughters and the people of this country. Knowing that they are foreigners, they further involved themselves in things that we know to be… The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}