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{
    "id": 543838,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/543838/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 179,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "When issues of insecurity started last year, as all of us know, the Government came up with the Nyumba Kumi Initiative . When we asked what this was all about, we were told that it was a concept that the Government was going to implement. I have asked people in my village whether they understand what the initiative is all about. They tell me that they think it has to do with counting ten houses. How do you count houses which are exceedingly populated? This concept may work in some towns like Nairobi where there are estates or even a block of flats where there are many houses. However, it cannot work in an area where people are sparsely populated. People should be allowed to talk about the problems they encounter in their villages and how they want to sort them out. Whether they sort them out or not, they should have somebody that they rely on. All of us were voted in. We did not walk in here. We were either voted or nominated. That is how we should deal with this issue at the lowest level. At the moment, whether we like it or not, these people exist. Somebody was saying that we should not have them. However, they exist. Some chiefs have already anointed some of them. Some are their friends. Some are used for different issues. If villagers were allowed to elect them, you would see a serious change in the way things are done. Sometimes some chiefs’ offices are used as distribution points for relief food in the northern part of Kenya where there is no food. Occasionally, some of the officers in charge of those offices, sub chiefs, chiefs and so on, because they have elected and chosen their own pretending to be village elders end up eating into the allocations that have been given. If you ask the villagers what they feel about the situation, they will tell you that if they were given the mandate to elect representatives, they would know who to trust. As we get into a time when security is such a big challenge, we have to use every available means, including getting legislation such as this. If we have 10 village elders in a sub location, that makes 83,000 elders in total since we have 8,300 sub locations. We should consider applying the one-third gender rule and also ensure that some of the positions are given to the youth. The remaining positions should be given to men. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, even if we assign honoraria for them to be given every quarter, just as we give elders who are above 65 years of age--- I am told that they are given about Kshs2000 per month which is summarized quarterly, so they get about Kshs10,000 after five months or so. We should be able to coin up something to give them including uniform, in order to make our village elders support efforts by the Government. In Kanyarkwat Location where I come from, and so many other locations bordering Trans-Nzoia and Uganda, we empowered them. I personally led a team into five locations and bought uniforms. They chose their own uniforms which were not necessarily the same as those of village elders who are found in another location or sub-location. Whenever there is a baraza or meeting which has been called for people to participate, you will see them strategically seated in the meeting and there is order in that meeting where they normally speak. When I asked why they wanted to take that direction, they told me to go and see what Uganda had done. I crossed over to Uganda and saw what had been done. When the President of the Republic of Uganda goes to a village, before he talks to the people, the village elder must speak first to assure him of 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."
}