Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 516046,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/516046/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 341,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 440,
        "legal_name": "Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen",
        "slug": "kipchumba-murkomen"
    },
    "content": "(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Thank you Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I want to say at the outset that I strongly support the Bill that has been brought to this House under the sponsorship of Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o, the Senator for Kisumu County. The spirit of public fundraising has been engrained in the life blood of our nation since we got Independence from Britain in 1963. One cannot over-emphasize how important public fundraising has been. Through public fundraising, we have built schools, hospitals and sponsored children some of whom have become adults and very responsible citizens. They have come back to this country and are now driving the economy of this country from various positions of responsibility in the public and private sector. Through public fundraising and the spirit of harambee, this country has witnessed massive infrastructural development in terms of schools, dispensaries, cattle dips etcetera . Even as we speak about regulating this area, we are speaking about a phenomenon that has transformed our nation. I would say that almost every Kenyan has been touched with the impact of public fundraising. However, this phenomenon of public fundraising has had tremendous challenges and I believe the sponsor of this Bill is bringing this Bill, not to stifle a very worthy programme but to provide an answer to some of the pressing challenges that have informed the experience with public fundraising in Kenya for the last half a century. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, one of the biggest challenges in this area has been misappropriation of funds that are raised by the public to support worthy causes. There used to be anecdotes in the 1980s and 1990s that the issue of theft of funds collected through harambees had reached critical levels including stories of heads of institutions who would connive with the so-called donors and supporters of fundraising to raise money which would be shared among the same people who took part in that fundraising. For example, you donate Kshs50,000 to attract a few other people, most of whom would be unknowingly involved, you collect money and divide amongst the few people who have conspired to have this fundraising done. You would have millions of shillings collected, but you could not pinpoint a project which had been targeted for sponsorship through that fundraising. This was pure theft; criminal behaviour. The other challenge has been the fact that public fundraisings have been turned into extortion processes. The greatest recipients of that extortionist behaviour have been political leaders. We have made it a culture in this country and erroneously the people who elected us believe that they elected us to do harambees as part of the job description of Members of Parliament or politicians generally. Mr. Temporary speaker, Sir, every week across this country, in every village, you get about 10 to 20 fundraisers. Some of these fundraisers are worth our attention, contribution and participation. However, the overwhelming majority of these functions or events are nothing but an organized extortionist process to get money especially from politicians. It has now become common to find especially leaders’ names being put in harambee cards. You get about ten cards bearing your name on the same day. You 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."
}