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{
"id": 532866,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/532866/?format=api",
"text_counter": 106,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "March 31, 2015 SENATE DEBATES 24 Sen. Ongoro",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when I was seated in the National Assembly Chamber listening to the President’s Speech, one of the things that impressed me most was when he stated that by 2017, there will be free and compulsory primary and secondary education. Knowing what the poor people go through to try and educate their children, I am impressed that bright intelligent students from poor families can at least now get the opportunity to go up to secondary education and then bursaries can then be transferred to college and university education. As a woman, I was also impressed that maternal deaths have decreased from 488 to 360 mothers. I am looking forward to the day we will not have any woman dying in the process of giving life. I was also impressed because there has been a sustained cash transfer for older persons. We are now at 164,000 persons, but this should increase. There have also been sustained cash transfers for the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC). We are doing 252 households. Of course, we need to improve. There are also 27,000 persons living with disabilities. We also have many more persons living with disabilities in this country and we need to build on that. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I listened to the President when he stated that his administration has launched a health insurance subsidy programme which is targeting 12,000 households. I hope that there will be regional balancing and a lot of other considerations, but this is a good step. There has also been established in the President’s office another bursary scheme targeting 13,050 orphans and vulnerable children. That is also a step in the right direction. Lastly, while I was seated listening to that Speech, in all honesty, I was almost shocked when I heard the President pronounce a public apology on his own behalf and on behalf of past administrations. That those words came from his mouth, truth be told, he needed a lot of strength of character. We should give it to him; that was really humble. However, having said that, an apology without action means absolutely nothing. In fact, an apology without restitution, refunds, a complete about turn and without action from the status quo is an insult that adds to injury. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, now that the apology has come from none other than the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of this Country, accepting that past regimes have meted social and economic crimes against its people, we now want an official acknowledgement of wrongs that have meted by past regimes. We now need to be told what action is being taken or will be taken. I want to believe that making a pronouncement is good, but if you really, truly, want to correct a situation, it is said always that actions speak louder than words; restitution. We want to see a process that ensures that the thousands of acres that have been grabbed from Kenyans, especially living along the coastal strip--- The Mijikenda and Swahili of this country have been turned into landless paupers living as squatters on their ancestral land. This is totally unacceptable. Even though we want to state that we are apologizing, if this situation is not corrected, I can assure you that the only action that will speak to this group of people is when they have a place to call home, build a hut and plant something to feed themselves. That can only be achieved if the thousands of acres grabbed by individuals, families and past administrations is repossessed and returned to 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."
}