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{
    "id": 34557,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/34557/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 347,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Mungatana",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 185,
        "legal_name": "Danson Buya Mungatana",
        "slug": "danson-mungatana"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to, first of all, congratulate Eng. Gumbo for moving this very important Motion. It is a very timely Motion. I am happy that I have this opportunity to second this Motion. I want to second this Motion that this House resolves that the Government establishes a department under the Ministry of Education to facilitate, co-ordinate, source and receive funds for and sustain a nationwide programme to distribute sanitary towels to all school-going girls in primary and secondary schools in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, sometimes we go through experiences in life that stay with us many years later on, even after we have completed school. I was in primary school in Garsen. When I was in Class Seven, I remember very well one afternoon, we were young and we did not know some of these things, but it was an interesting experience where one of our colleagues was undergoing this natural process. We were not able to know what was going on and I think even she did not know what was happening with her body. We were all asked to leave the classroom by our good teacher. As boys, later on, it was explained to us that something funny was going on and we thought it was just one of these jokes. We made fun out of it. Many years later, we came to realize what was really going on. I wish we could rewind the time so that we could make right what was wrong. I imagine the stress that classmate was going through not being able to move from the desk where she was seated. This was a rural school; Arap Moi Primary School in Ngao. We did not know what to do. My classmate was lucky that the teacher who was teaching the lesson at that moment was a lady teacher. She was able to understand and covered the situation. This is a typical experience of girls in rural schools. It does not only happen in Garsen or in Tana River County, but it happens in many places where girls, particularly in disadvantaged areas, undergo this process and they are not able to get assistance from schools. It is a problem, particularly in these hard times in our economy. Already 54 per cent of Kenyans live on less than a dollar a day. It is a big number within this country. The situation is worse in those areas which are far away from town and where the livelihoods of people are less in terms of economic empowerment. It is estimated that an average girl loses more than a full month of classes in the school year. Apart from the psychological and the missing of lessons, we expect the same girl to compete and be able to perform appropriately and take her place in the building of the economy in this nation. It is something that naturally puts the girls, particularly those from far flung areas, in a disadvantaged position. It is the responsibility of a Government such as ours to make sure that they take care of the weakest links in society. Any government that does not tie in the weak link in society is a government heading towards failure. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the situation is very desperate in some areas. It is reported that where there is no other way, the girls skip classes or they just use old pieces of clothing or blankets or tissue which exposes them to very unhygienic conditions. We think that Parliament needs to say something about this situation. This is why I am very happy today to second this Motion by Eng. Gumbo. I am aware that the Government has already waived taxes on sanitary towels, but there is need for the Government to do more. There is need for the Government to look into ways and means to reduce the prices that are offered in the market on these pads and other sanitary associated things, particularly for schools. There is need for the Government to do more as this Motion urges to facilitate the distribution of these sanitary towels to those areas that are affected. It is not enough for the Government to say we have reduced the taxes. It is also not enough for the Government to say we are doing something by putting some little money in the Budget. They need to do more. This is what this Motion is urging to be done. This Parliament is saying that it is not enough for the Government to merely reflect a figure in the Budget to say that the money is there. This Motion is saying it is not enough for the Government to say they have reduced the taxes. This Motion wants the Government to do more, particularly in the distribution bit of it in those far flung areas."
}