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{
    "id": 14932,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/14932/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 322,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Odhiambo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 119,
        "legal_name": "Alfred Bwire Odhiambo",
        "slug": "alfred-bwire"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I stand to second the Chairperson of the Committee. I wish to make a few observations on what she has said. The first one is that Thika Municipal Council claimed that those workers were laid off as a result of redundancy. But further investigations revealed that, after laying them off, some other workers were employed. Those who were employed were not as many as those who were sacked. They were about 60 people. When we investigated further, we also found out that some of those who were employed had similar qualifications and experience as those who had been sacked. The only reason that justified the action of employing new people was because they had sacked the 250 people and employed their supporters and relatives. Another observation was that the workers who were sacked had families. They were responsible people. They were paying school fees and taking care of their families. They were actually dismissed without being given any terminal benefits. So, it was rather inhuman because those people are Kenyans. They have the right to access education, food and shelter for their children and themselves. The only way they could do that was through the employment in the municipal council. So, it was unfair. Besides that, there is also a problem of unemployment in this country. So, sacking the 250 workers is making the situation even worse. We should be creating jobs for our people instead of sacking them and causing unemployment and suffering. The other observation was that the Clerk to the Thika Municipal Council was not ready or willing to provide the payroll. I think he was unwilling to do so in bad faith. We suspected that he had some malicious intentions. We wanted to know what those workers were earning. As my Chairperson has said, according to the Employment Act, the workers were not casuals. They had already been classified as workers and not casuals. So, they deserve to be compensated. If there are other hon. Members interested, they can contribute."
}