Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 557150,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/557150/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 168,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "At the outset, I want to state very clearly that this Bill, by itself, will not create jobs. The purpose of this Bill is to reform the labour market so that every young person in our country has an equal opportunity to access existing opportunities. Through this authority and by organizing employment in this country, we can look for many of these opportunities for our young people in other parts of the world. There are certain strategies that have been set out by the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Services to address the issue of unemployment. There is Sessional Paper No. 4 of 2013 that is currently before the Departmental Committee on Labour and Social Welfare. I can see my good friend, Hon. Were, is here. He is the Chairperson of the Committee. Some of the strategies are to accelerate and sustain high rates of economic growth, to re-energize sectoral growth by focusing on the agriculture, industries and service sectors and to establish special economic zones. This is a matter that is currently before the Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade, where I sit. All that is well and good, but even as that happens--- I will quote the same Report:- “A key component of any employment strategy is solid economic growth, but the foreseeable macro-economic context does not, however, inspire highly optimistic views about economic prospects. As such, employment promotion policies should concentrate on increasing the capacity of the economy to enhance the efficient and sustainable creation of jobs of any given economic growth rate.” As that is going on, it is good to make it clear that we need concerted efforts to address this problem. However, right now, let me give you two examples. A young man named Ekomwa graduates with a First Class Honours Degree at the University of Nairobi. However, he is from a very poor family. Young Ekomwa has to go back to Lokichar because he has to choose between staying in Kibra trying to eke out a living and going back home to fend for the family that depends on him. When that young man, despite his qualifications, goes back to Lokichar, he has no access to a newspaper to look for job advertisements. In the county government, it is probable that the only people getting jobs are well connected and from certain families. Will young Ekomwa ever have an opportunity to work at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in Mombasa? It could also be young Nafula or young Kioko who goes back to Makueni, or young Waititu. In some areas in North Eastern, if a young person called Abdirahman, for example, has graduated from Moi University and he goes back there, will he ever have an opportunity to get a job at Mumias Sugar Factory? It is close to impossible. This Bill seeks to do the following:- To create a national database where each and every jobseeker is registered. We cannot solve a problem without having information. I dare ask any Member in the House today to tell me the number of unemployed nurses in their county. No one knows. The governors do not know. That information is not available. In fact, a lot of statistics have been shedding more darkness than light into the problem. How can we solve the unemployment problem if we do not even have the basic statistics, information and data with respect to those who are unemployed? So, the first thing the Bill will do is to create a national database where each and every jobseeker must register. They will register for free. They will say: “Here I am. This is where I am from. This is what I have studied and this is what I hope to do.” The Bill will create job centres in each and every part of the country such that that young Ekomwa in Lokichar does not have to The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}