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{
    "id": 381765,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/381765/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 112,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Zani",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13119,
        "legal_name": "Agnes Zani",
        "slug": "agnes-zani"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Motion. The issue of harambee contribution is a personal decision. So, you will find that there are those who are going to make contributions at a small-scale level and you cannot really coerce somebody to give more. If it is somebody who has given birth and you are taking a present to her, you cannot be coerced. This Motion is focusing on a more formalised process of harambee and collecting money at a public level. Therefore, it is very important and very critical. Unfortunately, over time, the notion of harambee has been taken only in terms of monetary contributions. The fact that it has attracted so much attention has to do with the nature of the African family and community life. Depending on the purpose, people would contribute so easily and so willingly. Therefore, it was not just a contribution in terms of monetary, but in terms of other resources like labour and so on. Over time, there has been a lot of appeal in terms of what harambees mean, especially for Kenya and the different reasons for them. We have already discussed the sort of contributions available. For example, for educational purpose, health, or a community initiative. This was the beginning of what brought out the notion of many contributions. The long terms benefits were always very clear. The approach was also bottom-up rather than top-bottom. Therefore, people who contributed felt that they actually knew the need and they appreciated and knew what their contributions were going to make in terms of the changes within the societal context. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we cannot underestimate harambee and what it has done. Statistics have been given in terms of contributions. For example, by 1979, about 30 per cent of rural development investment was actually from harambee initiative. That was about Kshs8.8 million collected at that time. The development plan of 1979 to 1983 actually said that harambee is a major strategy for accelerating rural development since Independence. By 1992, we had up to a tune of Kshs26 million that had been contributed as a result of harambee initiatives and that is no mean feat. That is really quite a lot of effort that is put to ensure that such contribution is availed to a particular community. By 1980 to 1984, 12 per cent of the national capital formation was through harambees. By The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}