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{
    "id": 1518671,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1518671/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 136,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Bondo, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Gideon Ochanda",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "For the projects to succeed, that interface must be properly understood, recognised and constantly checked. There are many projects that have been done, even by the Government, but with very little background on the community needs. The projects are done without considering the social aspects. Additionally, the communities do not understand them very well. The best way some of those things can be done is through social workers. Some authorities, for example, the National Irrigation Authority, have a complete office which does research before they implement any project that involves communities, rather than what we popularly call public participation. This has worked very well for them. The best way we can sustain public participation is through social workers. Those are the persons that have a constant touch with the communities. Many technical departments do not recognise them and that is exactly where we go wrong. Like I mentioned earlier, when we do not recognise them in projects like construction of bridges, we end up doing wrong things. This is because, sometimes, the public participation that we do is not sufficient. We do not have proper legislation on how public participation should be conducted. They are done in an instantaneous way, where, people are invited on a specific day, discuss some issues and that is the end of it. Nobody takes them through the intricacies of what the projects have. This is where social workers become important and very critical. They can be the constant face of technical work across communities by constantly checking the opinions of the communities. This is because many of the projects that we deal with, interface with human beings. A good example of why social work is critical is that of a Kenyan lady who moved into Germany sometime back, with her small baby. Once she arrived there, her details were recorded. Little did she know that there is a system in place in Germany that tracks children. When the baby turned six years, she was shocked to find a social worker in her house asking the whereabouts of the child. She needed to know whether the child was in school or not. Those are some of the areas where social workers can help us in a better way than how we casually look at things. The social workers can also help with the issue of data by strategically placing them alongside the social health workers. There is some data out there that is supposed to help governments, whether in the county governments or National Government. This is for purposes of properly identifying the needs of the people and how to address them. Therefore, the idea of social workers having their place is very critical and necessary. I also call upon the technical departments and agencies that deal with communities and people, to involve social workers in their projects. The best interface they can ever have is to have the social workers in their departments such that there is a connection between what they do and the needs of the communities. I support the Bill. I, however, believe that there are aspects that need to be improved, particularly the element of interface between the technical areas that we do in the country and the people. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker."
}