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{
    "id": 1524052,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1524052/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 288,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Mungatana, MGH",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to second this Motion. I also want to thank the Chairperson of the Committee on Labour and Social Welfare, Sen. Murgor, for ably moving the Motion on the inquiry of the welfare of workers in the EPZ in Mombasa and Kilifi counties. If you live in the coast, you will always see hundreds of people walking towards the companies that have been set up as EPZ’s very early in the morning along the Malindi-Mombasa road. Those wananchi work at Ashton Apparel EPZ Limited and the other two that were mentioned. They go to those places to earn a living. Sen. Faki did not speak of this because it is a joke. There are serious problems that face those wananchi as they go to work and carry out their duties in those EPZ’s. Sen. Faki complained of the EPZ in Mombasa and Kilifi counties, but the problems in those EPZ’s are similar to those of the EPZs in Nairobi and other places. The people who make those garments for export sales are harassed and exposed to difficult labour conditions. This is not the first time that we have heard about these complains and it will not be the end of these complains. We know that the EPZs are supposed to help boost economic activities within the country and the idea was to create employment for our people. However, the conditions of work are very difficult in those EPZs. I want to agree with the committee that the Cabinet Secretary in charge of trade, industries and investments in this country must be proactive. I am sure the Cabinet Secretary is listening to me wherever he is. This Senate is recommending that he should go and get better deals for our workers in those EPZs. Our citizens are paid minimum wages. They walk because they cannot afford to take boda boda and cannot get into a matatu. They literally live on bare minimum. Apart from the poor pay, there are also many complaints. They are exposed to sexual harassment and very long working hours. They are also exposed to poor pay. Some of the working conditions within those EPZs are against the labour laws of this country. I want to use the Floor of the Senate to tell the Cabinet Secretary to have a meeting with his officers in order for them to make special visits without notice to those EPZs for them to check if labour practices are being followed. The agreements that are signed with the EPZs are supposed to make them, as a company, subject to Kenya labour laws. There is no excuse. I recommend that the Senate report be expanded, so that the Cabinet Secretary who will be served with this report ensures that unannounced visits are carried out by labour officers in all EPZs. They should not just be the ones in Mombasa and Kilifi counties. These unannounced visits are the ones that bring out the true picture of what happens in those EPZs. 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."
}