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{
    "id": 1402169,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1402169/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 238,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wambua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13199,
        "legal_name": "Enoch Kiio Wambua",
        "slug": "enoch-kiio-wambua"
    },
    "content": "Part III of the Bill speaks to the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA). I have my issues with that section because of two things. One, what we normally do when we legislate and create authorities, is a problem that we have inherited from perhaps a level of laziness. I do not know on whose part. Every time that we create an authority or a board, we are very quick to do a copy and paste exercise to determine who the members of the board are. Traditionally, we always put in there a Principal Secretary of the Ministry responsible, a Principal Secretary for Finance, and the Attorney- General. I think we must expand our thinking beyond that traditional way of doing things. You will find that a Principal Secretary is a member of 10 or 20 boards. They never get to attend meetings. Of course, some representatives are designated, but the real impact and contribution of those Principal Secretaries in those boards is never felt. Why can we not move away from that tradition? Why can we not get people who are competent to sit on boards and add value to those boards? It is the same thing that I have seen with boards that we create and it is repeated here that the headquarters of the authority will be in Nairobi. What is the magic in placing the headquarters of this authority in Nairobi? We must wake up and realize that that used to happen when Nairobi was the only City in this country. Today, we have Kisumu, Mombasa and Nakuru cities. The designation of a town into a city is not just for purposes of name. It is also for purposes of certain activities happening in those cities. Why should we concentrate all the boards and authorities in Nairobi and none in other cities like Mombasa, Nakuru and Kisumu? What is the magic of having this board in Nairobi? I challenge Senators who fought very hard to have their towns elevated to city status to also push an agenda to have some of these authorities go and sit in those cities. There is nothing wrong with that and there is no magic in a board sitting in Nairobi. Lastly is on the issue of issuance of licenses and permits. I have looked at Part IV of the Bill, which deals with licensing and issuance of permits. As we give authority to the authority to determine who can get a permit and who cannot and who can get a license and who cannot, I hope we will not be jumping from the frying pan into the fire. I hope this will not be another avenue for serious corruption in this country when it comes to issuance of licenses and permits. I am saying that because Clause 29 of the Bill states that no individual person can be issued with a license. It means you must be a limited company and have an account registered in the name of the limited company. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in this day and age and this country, the easiest thing to do is to register a limited company. I can wake up one morning and by the end of the day, I will have registered a limited company. The easiest thing to do in this country is to open a bank account. Banks are now hawking bank accounts. Anybody can open a bank account under any name. There is need for proper tightening of Part IV of this Bill to ensure that the procedure for licensing and issuance of permits for gambling does not open an avenue for corruption and extortion of people who would want to set up genuine and legitimate gambling businesses. 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."
}