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"id": 240732,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/240732/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Ms. Karua",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 166,
"legal_name": "Martha Wangari Karua",
"slug": "martha-karua"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this Motion, which I oppose. As has been said by the Minister for Trade and Industry, it is not that we lack adequate legislation. It is the enforcement of that legislation that is wanting. It is also the awareness on the part of consumers and watchdog institutions that is lacking. What I would call for is the revamping of the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KBES) so that, it is able to continuously monitor the standards and ensure that whatever goes out to the market is of the required standards. We know that in the present day Kenya, people are avoiding regulation and monitoring by getting fictitious court injunctions. We know of retail outlets that have managed to evade the KEBS by getting court injunctions for the last decade. Therefore, it is a problem of enforcement. It is also the failure of other law enforcement agencies, notably, the Office of the Attorney- General and the institutions concerned, to ensure that when cases are filed and injunctions are obtained against regulatory bodies, that those cases are disposed off within a reasonable time. Therefore, KEBS has been rendered toothless by, sometimes, the litigants, the courts, the Office of the Attorney-General and also by their own inertia of failing to do their work effectively. I urge the Mover, whom I know to be a reasonable person, to consider that we ought to revamp the KEBS to do its duty. There is no use of creating a new Board to do the work that is already being done, or supposed to be done by KEBS. We should introduce reforms at KEBS, give it capacity and ensure that it discharges its duty of creating awareness, so that consumers, in turn, could have their watchdog lobbies which would ensure that they are getting value for their money and that they are not being short-charged. We must guard against the new trend where, whenever we have a problem with the manner in which institutions are discharging their work, we suggest additional institutions. A proliferation of institutions is not what we need. After all, if we have a new consumer board that is being proposed in the Motion, it is the taxpayers' money that would continue to maintain the KEBS, the consumer board and any other organisation that you will establish. We shall very easily exhaust ourselves by having a proliferation of organisations, instead of streamlining and making effective the machineries that we already have. Therefore, I am saying that, although the existing Standards Act and other Acts which assist to maintain standards can be looked at incase there is need for strengthening, what we need is not a new body! We need to introduce reforms to the existing bodies to ensure that they effectively discharge their duties. I am appealing to hon. Members to conduct sufficient research as they suggest new organisations. If we feel we must have a new organisation, and we have conducted adequate research, we should give suggestions as to what will be done with the existing ones."
}