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{
    "id": 1402138,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1402138/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 207,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cherarkey",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13217,
        "legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
        "slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, as you are aware, we are having a regional meeting in Nairobi. His Excellency the President is the Patron. We are launching Plan No.5 on National Action Plan in Legislative Openness. Kenya is gray in terms of illicit money. It has been found that Kenya has a big problem when it comes to money laundering. My advice to the country is that we must be careful with the issue of money laundering and illicit money in the economy because the moment you are blacklisted, you can never trade outside this country. This is a serious issue and I agree that we must come up with measures to curb money laundering. I remember a few years ago, when we had the issue of piracy money, it became a serious issue until we enacted a money laundering law. Therefore, I agree that there should be a way, so that gambling is not used to launder proceeds of illicit money. Brazil is a very beautiful country. I have been there on several occasions, especially on issues of agriculture and others. I do not want colleagues to look at me suspiciously. I went there on issues of agricultural imports of machinery. That is the beauty about Brazil. I do not look at other things. As you are aware, many years ago, in Brazil, there was what is called the “Car Wash Scandal”. There are corruption allegations that some senior government officials used to steal money to use in a car wash. Interestingly, the story is that it was next to government buildings. They were using the car wash scandal to try and do money laundering. There are instances where gambling companies are using that. Mr. Speaker, Sir, so that I allow other colleagues to speak, in seconding this Bill, I would like to make about three comments on Clause 64. They are also saying that a vendor may be granted a right to operate a casino and other forms of business. We need to agree on where we should build gambling machines. Should we have them next to a shopkeeper or where maize is being milled? I know that in Vihiga, where Sen. Osotsi comes from, when you put a casino near a maize milling machine, there is no problem. However, if you do that in other areas, somebody can go without food. We have heard of cases where eggs disappear mysteriously because people steal eggs to go and sell. There is a famous egg that was common to be stolen. It was a small one, which was yellow in colour. I think it was made in China. Many eggs were being lost in the villages because young men and women were taking them. The question is; what should we do? Perhaps we should think of regions or geographical areas, just like we have zoning of bars. There is a distance they should be located from schools. Perhaps the presence of tourists in counties like Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale, among others, should be based on cultural and religious distribution. I talked about that earlier on. There are some religions that abhor gambling. There are incidents and social consequences of compulsive and addictive gambling. I think it is an addiction. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), addiction is a disease and not an offence. I agree with the Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Cheruiyot. He said that gambling companies should undertake to build rehabilitation centres and put programmes in place. The way we demand of people who sell illicit brews and drugs, they must develop rehab centres because gambling is another addiction. To be honest, I know many young people who might not find this comfortable. Are you aware that in this City and across the 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."
}