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{
    "id": 599507,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/599507/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 294,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kagwe",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 229,
        "legal_name": "Mutahi Kagwe",
        "slug": "mutahi-kagwe"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, from the outset, I rise to support the amendments to the Act and congratulate Sen. Musila. He has been with the Committee on Education, both when I chaired the Committee and now as a Member. I have witnessed his participation when we invited stakeholders, officials from the Ministry and so on. Sen. Musila has never missed a single sitting even though he is not a Member of the Committee because of passion. I also recognise and appreciate that he actually wants to amend an Act that he participated in creating. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Act that he wants amended was passed because of the same problem that he had noticed at that time and which still persists. At some point, former President Kibaki ordered the release of all the certificates that were being withheld. I am aware that Sen. Musila has tried to see whether we can issue the same decree to have all certificates released. However, everything has got good and bad bits. Today, because of the Constitution that we have, if President Uhuru ordered that, he would probably be taken to court by somebody. So, it is only fitting then that we create the institutional framework that is necessary to get the job done. The job that we are trying to get done is to issue certificates to children. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there is a sense in which this is a sad Bill. It is because it should not be necessary for us to pass a law in Parliament so that children from poor families can be given their certificates to look for jobs. I wish it was not necessary to have this Bill. In a civilized society, it should not be necessary for us to have a Bill like this. It should have been very obvious to everybody that a certificate that is being withheld can only be done so for one reason only and that is, the person cannot afford to pay. If the person could afford to pay, the certificate would not be held in the first place. I am aware that there could be one or two notorious individuals who may just be refusing to pay. However, the average person would not withhold money from their own children so that their certificates are denied. If, indeed, it is the parents who have not paid, the sins of the father should not be meted on the child. When you think about a child walking to a school to beg for a certificate, explaining that the mother cannot pay and that they want to try their luck to join the police force or military – the only chance that they have to get out of poverty – and the child is denied that certificate, you weep for the nation. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we have debated the proposed amendments in the Committee. A lot of debate still continues because we have people who object to this amendment. Those who are objecting to these amendments are head teachers because 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."
}