Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1625357,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1625357/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 108,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Kamar",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I think Members must remember that labour migration is affecting all of them; from recruitment scandals to the destination issues that they have. I wish to take this opportunity to commend our colleague, Sen. Tabitha Mutinda, for sponsoring a Labour Migration and Management Bill (Senate Bills No.42 of 2024), which has been in the Committee for a while. The report of the Committee has been tabled so, we seem to be ahead of the AU. We need to borrow what is in the document that is coming out. In this regard, I urge the Committee on Labour and Social Protection to fast-track everything concerning labour migration because it affects all of us. All of us know people who have suffered in their countries of destination. The Committee should move with speed, therefore, to incorporate key provisions emerging from the continental consultations, including the rights-based, gender-sensitive and development-orientated safeguards and bring forward any necessary amendments to ensure the legislation is both progressive and aligned in regional and international best practises. Apart from the Committee, I urge our colleague, Sen. Mutinda, to read the outcome of that consultation. She might also pick one or two things. Mr. Speaker, Sir, our migrant workers, many of whom serve in precarious environments abroad, deserve a law that protects them comprehensively. Fast-tracking the Bill will not only safeguard the Kenyan workers overseas, but also reaffirm our leadership and commitment to the African integration agenda. Finally, the refined model law is expected to be submitted to the African Union Literacy Council with recommendations for partner states to adopt and domesticate it. As a Senate, we must remain actively engaged, both in the Bill that is before us and in what is going on in the continent so that we make the best out of it. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I conclude by calling upon the Members of the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Protection to lead the process. We invited them to come for the meeting and nobody turned up from that Committee. It was a little disappointing for me and Sen. Mungatana that we did not have anybody from the Committee. When we have regional meetings, we expect our committees to take part. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank you for the opportunity to make this Statement."
}