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{
    "id": 517309,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/517309/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 329,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Omondi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13157,
        "legal_name": "Godliver Nanjira Omondi",
        "slug": "godliver-nanjira-omondi"
    },
    "content": "Yes, Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o. Thank you very much for reminding me. The issue of harambee is a noble cause, but it is sometimes misused and it becomes meaningless. I want to support the harambee spirit because it is a noble cause, helping one another to achieve an objective that will benefit a society, community or family that is in hardship. Indeed, it is important to have these harambees being controlled by having a body that will control the way they are being managed and run, for us to have something that will touch the life of a person in the community. If I can remember or flashback to some years back when harambees were banned and the CDF came in place; when you look at the challenges that the common mwananchi or Kenyans citizens were facing through the harambee process, you find that the banning of harambee helped so much and the community and CDF came in place to support. So many projects have been done, especially construction of schools and other facilities. However, sometimes people or the community is forced to come up with harambee to support the neglected projects that are normally called “white elephants” because of political reasons, whereby after the sitting Member of National Assembly, maybe did not manage politically, the incoming new Member ignores the projects that were started by the former Member. So, it is the community again, through their initiatives that is forced to come up with such a harambee to support the finishing of such projects. These harambees support the education systems. When you look at the way bursaries are distributed under the CDF, you will see that they are not given out equally. Some parents, due to political reasons, are forced to come up with harambees so as to support the education of their families and to pay hospital bills. If we have a body that will monitor harambees, then we will have some sanity in the whole thing. We will also create genuineness in harambees that are held. At times you can go to your constituency and find that you have almost 20 harambees on one Saturday. One is left wondering how to divide himself so as to attend all of them. It is even more difficult for us, Senators, who do not have other sources of money, but depend on salaries. As my colleague has said, when you give out small amounts, people are left gossiping and saying; “a whole Senator is giving us Kshs5,000 or Kshs2,000.” When you multiply the Kshs5,000 by 20, you will find that you cannot make it. 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."
}