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{
    "id": 1284517,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1284517/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 202,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wambua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13199,
        "legal_name": "Enoch Kiio Wambua",
        "slug": "enoch-kiio-wambua"
    },
    "content": "Assembly becomes an Act of Parliament or law. That way, the public can have a say on how they are being governed and how the laws that govern them are being made. Mr. Speaker, Sir, for the most part, in a lot of instances when we are making laws, public participation has more or less become Public Relations (PR) and an act of ticking the boxes and ensuring that we have lived to the expectations of the Constitution and the law. In this Bill, the promoters are pushing for targeted public participation by the users and consumers of the Kenyan sign language so that they are brought on board and their views, needs and aspirations catered for when it comes to legislation. Clause 6 recognizes that the Kenyan sign language is a first language to a section of our society and a first language by choice to a section of our society. In so doing, it pushes for the use of sign language in legal proceedings, our courts and tribunals. That is a big step and a step in the right direction. Even as we push for that to happen in legal proceedings, I take this opportunity to congratulate our mainstream media houses. Over a period of around 7 years, media houses have invested in sign language especially for their news bulletins. I encourage them to take a bold step and make sign language part of their every day, every minute and every hour communication with the public. That way, even in broadcasts that are not news bulletins, we have interpreters who use sign language. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I like the provisions of Clause 7 of the Bill where a Cabinet Secretary (CS) is obligated to ensure that deaf learners are taught in a manner which they can understand. Teachers of deaf children acquire sufficient competence in the use of English and Kiswahili language and development of supportive instructional materials for the education of deaf learners. The provisions of that Clause have very far-reaching implications on the CS responsible for education. By nature of which this Clause has been drafted, it obligates the CS to make sure the training and recruitment of additional special teachers, especially teachers for deaf children. That Clause ensures that the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE)--- I will cross reference that to the provisions of Clause 18. For the longest time, KISE, which is based in Nairobi City County, has been the only institution in this country that is training special teachers. That is why all the time, the competition for enrolment at KISE has overwhelmed the capacity of the institution to absorb as many teachers as are necessary to make certain that the provisions of Clause 7 of this Bill are met so that we do not pay lip service to a Bill as important as this. Mechanisms must be put in place. I am very sure that my teacher, Sen. (Prof.) Kamar, would follow through on this to make sure that we begin to devolve KISE. KISE cannot just be based in Nairobi City County. There would be a need to devolve that institution so that in Kakamega County, we have a KISE in the same way that we have Kenya Medical Training Colleges (KMTC) all over the country, even at the constituency level. We open opportunities for teachers to be trained for special education all over the country. That way, the provisions of Clause 7 would begin to make sense. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the other obligation on the CS is that there is need for him or her to ensure that there is development of sufficient supportive instructional materials. We The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard Services,Senate."
}