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{
    "id": 496712,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/496712/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 219,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. That is true. I just want to thank the Mover for bringing this Motion. I want to indicate that this is a very big problem because from what the speaker is saying, these are cases of trafficking in persons. I brought a Bill that was passed by this House, I think, last year; Counter Trafficking in Persons Act. One of the things that is evident is that Kenya is a source country, it is a transit country and a destination country for trafficking and one of the things that is happening with Kenya as a source country is that we have many Kenyan girls who go to other countries because of the push factor, which is poverty and they are hoping that they can get better lives. Unfortunately, many Kenyan girls get mistreated and because of the very nature of these cases being modern day slavery, they are not on the surface. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I have had occasion to travel to some of those countries. It is very difficult to reach some of those girls even when they send SOS. That is why I can appreciate and understand that my dear sister, hon. (Ms.) Nyokabi is not able to give very solid documents because of its very nature; it is an underground trade much like drug trafficking. What happens in those cases is that most of those Kenyans who go there are not documented. Even when they go properly, they go through agents. Once they reach there, their passports are confiscated. They are detained in homes. When I visited one of those countries, without naming names, I noticed that I was travelling in the plane with very many African girls but when I reached that country, you could hardly see any African person on the streets. That in itself sometimes is indicative of trafficking. When we actually did a research, we discovered that there were many Kenyans who were trafficked and they would want to come out but they are not able. What I would want to suggest because this issue keeps coming back, in the Act we provided for an advisory committee. Unfortunately, I have just been in communication with the Chair who is a lady called Juliet Nyambura, who works with the Cradle. She is the one who is the current Chair of that advisory body and she is saying that the main challenge is they do not have funds to meet. If they do not even have funds to meet, how would they be able to deal with the very big issue of this nature? So, what I would want to request is that when the Budget and Appropriations Committee is sitting next time, they need to consider giving money to this committee. I think it sits in the Ministry responsible for women and children. They need to give this body money so that they are able to document Kenyans who are outside there and have quick response when you have girls who send SOS that they need to come and they cannot come back. What these people do is that when you demand for your money the easiest way to do is to throw you off a roof or throw you off a window because in any event, you are not documented. Even for the ones who manage to reach the police, what they do is they charge them for being in that country illegally. I visited one of the camps and they are terrible. They are horrible camps where those people are kept. So, what I would want to request is that as a House, we need to facilitate because this issue keeps coming before the Floor all the time. It does not have to be in your constituency for us to take note. I have not seen any case from my constituency, but they are all Kenyans. The women who are suffering are Kenyans. We The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}