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{
    "id": 1444138,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1444138/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 249,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Ogola",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "The many businesses that the street vendors get involved in are a source of national unity. All of you will agree with me that those traders come from all over this country. In my small town back at home called Ndhiwa, on Thursday when we have a market day, you can be sure you have most of the tribes represented in that market. We have traders coming from as far as Thika, Garissa, and Kisii who are our neighbors. For me, this is a good show as a country that this is a source of national unity. The misfortunes that those traders have is that most of them sell their ware on the roads and pathways. Using the same example of my market of Ndhiwa on a Thursday, often, when you look at how the traders are going about their business, one is left with a lot of fear of accidents occurring because there are no designated places for these traders. They bring their wares very early in the morning. If you visit my town by 4:00 a.m. when the buses from Nairobi arrive, all these traders come with their wares and all they have are portions of the road as sites for selling their wares. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the main reason as to why I really support this Bill is because it talks about designation of vending zones. This is important because, apart from the street vendors, there are also other usage of some of this space. For example, when you walk in Nairobi City, you will find vendors all over in front of the shops. This is really not fair to the shopkeepers because they are also into the same business. So, when this Bill finally comes into force and there are designated zones for these vendors, it will bring order. It will also bring fairness to all other users because their places will be marked and thus, they will also be maximizing their days. When the zones are not marked, the street vendors can only come at particular times and periods. You find that they are not there in the morning, but come in the evening or late afternoon. This means they are not maximising the whole day for their businesses. I also support this Bill because it talks about data; that the county governments will have real data of these street vendors. Data is important for planning Once the governments are able to identify the vendors in terms of their specific names, numbers and businesses that they do, then the Government is able to plan for them. Planning is key to the success of this kind of business because the vendors are able to be planned for in terms of utilities that they need. The vendors need to be accessible because when they bring their wares, they need their customers to walk to them. They also need access to different facilities. So, with their data, the Government is able to plan for them in terms of sanitation and other public utilities such as street lights because we are talking about many hours of doing business even beyond sunset. There is also need for planning of security of the vendors, which can only be achieved by the Government having their data. It is important that in the process of this designation and getting the data, the vendors are engaged in setting up these zones. It is not right that in planning, the Government arbitrarily decides that it is going to have vendors in these zones without engaging them. If we reflect back as a country, there was a time, some years back, when certain markets were constructed in this country under the Economic Stimulus Programme. If you go around this country, you will find that resources were put in building certain 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."
}