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{
    "id": 497342,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/497342/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 230,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I have had occasion to travel with other Members of Parliament (MPs) to countries like Korea. In Korea, we found that all the massage jobs in hotels are reserved for blind people. If you want to get a massage, you book for one. That is a way of creating employment because when you massage somebody, you do not have to see that person. So, I saw it as a very innovative way for that government to support their disabled people by specifying that, that category of jobs should be done by the disabled persons. Why can we not request the hospitality industry in Kenya also to offer training to the bright ladies in this country so that they can also offer massage in our hotels in Kenya? There are a lot of tourists who are coming to Kenya and who need those services; when Kenyans are tired, they also need massage services and this is a service which can be provided by this particular group. These days you are surprised; you can take a lift to any Government buildings and some of them are being manned by able- bodied people. You wonder why we cannot reserve these jobs of taking people up and down the lifts to people with disability. That is a job that does not require much because there is a seat in the lift. So, we can map out categories of jobs that we can reserve for people with disability instead of just saying “five per cent.” I think we need to break it down; what are those 5 per cent that we are giving? Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is very good that the Bill is talking about the reports from the Council coming to the Senate and to the National Assembly. But I think we need to go beyond that. In the United Nations (UN), the human rights implementation mechanism through the reporting system has become a farce because there are mountains and mountains of reports virtually on anything. But the gap between what is said in those reports and what happens on the ground afterwards is as wide as the gap between heaven and hell. I think once those reports come to this Senate – and I am happy Sen. James Orengo has come in, who is the Chairperson of the Committee on Implementation – it is for the Senate to discuss those reports and follow up to ensure that if we have said that 5 per cent of the jobs should go to the disabled people, indeed, 5 per cent of the various organizations – they may be given up to 2016 or whatever – are actually taken up by the disabled people. So, I am calling for stricter implementation which goes beyond the reporting mechanisms. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we are very good in rhetoric; we are very good in paying lip service and giving populist statements about what we are doing. But I think the time has come, especially for the Government, to be more serious in talking less and doing more. I think that is the only way that we can really support our disabled brothers and sisters. Many of them are very bright people. There is a school in my county – St. Lucy’s School for the Blind – which has the best choir in Meru County; but we only see them when they are singing in school. But after they graduate in Form Four, we do not know what happens to them; we do not know where they go to sing or whether they just disappear into the society. So, I think groups like those should be encouraged because they are talented singers; they can be supported by the Government. We do not just have to give jobs in the office; we can also encourage disabled entrepreneurs – like those who can sing and do such things – to continue entertaining and then they get paid either by the county governments or by the national Government. So, I am calling for more innovation 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."
}