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{
    "id": 1443356,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1443356/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 126,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Maanzo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13589,
        "legal_name": "Maanzo Daniel Kitonga",
        "slug": "maanzo-daniel-kitonga"
    },
    "content": "The same Bill came to Parliament and the usual lobbying took place. The majority of the Members of Parliament voted yes which irritated the young people because they did not imagine the hardship life they would face. I have engaged some of these people who were in these demonstrations and most of them are graduates. They come from poor families and even as graduates, they have tried to join the army, the police and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) but they have been asked for bribes. Some of the stories I have heard from my constituents of Makueni is that they have even sold land to raise the bribe of Kshs300,000. After you pay the bribe, you cannot see the people whom you paid the bribe and your child is not enrolled in the army, police the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), or KWS. Therefore, you end up with a very depressed young person who is talented but is surrounded by poverty, unable to fight poverty and is now watching the cost of living rising. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, they have told me they would rather die doing something, visiting us here, visiting the house on the hill, visiting the Judiciary, or those who they think have let them down. That is a very difficult position to correct and a majority of them have that idea that they would rather die doing something than just commit suicide or do something else. Therefore, that level of depression was compounded when they saw the church support politics in an unfair manner. Additionally, they have seen the wasteful lifestyles of some of us in Government, who already are doing many things. It has become very expensive to move people in the Government from one place to another even when they are doing important things. A good example is a recent visit to the USA. Some people went to the USA and even if it was a paid-up trip by a benevolent person, I am sure the governors had to spend their own money for the days they spent there whereby some extended their trip days. There were many idlers in that trip and one of the frustrating things to many young people is the issue of disability, which has been talked to by the wonderful Senator. In the 1998 bombing, many people became disabled. We summoned the body dealing with disability here and the stories they gave us were horrifying. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we asked them why we had not accommodated the people who had been bombed. The Government has failed people in that regard. Most of the children were either a year old or were born after. The driver of the late hon. Kamotho had a one-year-old and a three-year-old and a number of them were more than one year old. That one-year-old of 1997 is now a Gen Z and has never seen the father get compensated. The father woke up and went to work, but did not return home having died in the bomb blast. Many people are transiting because every county was affected. All these people have gone to court. People have been in hospital and have become frustrated over the years. Yet, when the United States of America (USA) trip was planned, the people we sent from this House and any other Government person we engaged with because we engaged the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, the Embassy in Washington frustrated us on this matter when we went there. Other Government departments have been there. 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."
}