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{
    "id": 1358533,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1358533/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 323,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Crystal Asige",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "He complained that this Address was extremely wanting because it made no mention of the creative economy and how the Government has done nothing until today to support creatives in the way they should be supported. I also know a Moses, who decided that his only recourse was to leave Kenya and to look for work outside. He went to the Middle East to become a trader. He trades fruits and vegetables. That was his only saving grace in trying to make a living and sending money back home. Unfortunately, he too was disappointed by the Speech because no address was made about Kenyans’ plight; the Kenyans in the diaspora or any issues in that regard. People have told me that this Bottom Up Economic Transformative Agenda (BETA) is true to its words, but in a way that the Government maybe is not admitting to. It seems like money is being taken from the bottom and is being moved up. That is the only way that people in my community and those I have been speaking to see this BETA really looking like in the ground for them. Money is being moved from the bottom and taken up. Mr. Speaker, Sir, once again, there was no mention about disability inclusion and mainstreaming. Last year when the President opened Parliament, he made no mention of disability matters; nothing about inclusion or diversity at all. When he made appointments to different positions after the Address upon opening Parliament, he gave no opportunities and none that fit the quota of five per cent as per our Constitution to Persons with Disabilities (PWD). Last week in his Address, he failed to address the needs of PwDs, the shortcomings and the steps he has taken through his Government to care for this vulnerable but extremely powerful minority group in the country. I will give you an example of today. I was in the street outside Parliament. I was walking with a group of street vendors who are PwDs and had been thrown out of the Central Business District (CBD) by the county government askaris. They complained that they had been given no space to trade. They sell small goods like sweets, sodas, and water. Nairobi City County enforcement officers have been harassing, frustrating and pushing them out of the CBD even though according to the Constitution we have a right to be in these spaces and trading. A total of 100 odd PwDs are vendors in this city, they brought a Petition to this House and the County Assembly, and have tried to get an audience with the county government through Governor Sakaja who has been in their account ignoring them. This is not the first time. They were there last week and were teargassed. Imagine a group of earnest hardworking PwDs who are trying to make a living and do the best they can with the little they have. As I said before, we have to work twice as hard, to get half as far in this country and any space in this world as PwDs. What do we get in return? The boot from our Government, county governments, and our authorities, telling us that we do not have space or time or the right to be in the CBD and trade. This was not addressed and these are some of the issues that have been completely ignored by the President and the executive. Mr. Speaker, Sir, other places were not mentioned. There was no address for the rising prices of fuel and electricit and the national outcry regarding Kenya Revenue 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 and AudioServices, Senate."
}