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{
    "id": 622636,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/622636/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 57,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "provisions of the 2010 Constitution as well as ensuring that the Commission has teeth to bite when dealing with matters of hate speech and promoting cohesion in our country. There is also the Equal Opportunities and Persons with Disabilities Bill that is pending before the Committee. We have agreed with Government agencies and relevant stakeholders on the contents and draft of the Equal Opportunities Bill as well as substantive amendments to the Persons with Disabilities Act. This must be done in conjunction with the relevant Departmental Committees. With regard to statements, two statements were committed to the Committee by the Senate regarding appointments to State corporations. One statement was delivered on the Floor of the Senate, as deliberated by the Committee, because that is where it originated. With regard to the other statement, we are waiting for the input of the Head of Public Service so that we conclude and deliver it either to the Senate or the National Assembly. With respect to local workshops, we have a few that are still pending; that we have already started working on. The first one is on the operationalisation of the Equalisation Fund. This is a matter of interest to Members about when the Equalisation Fund will start operating. We met the National Treasury the day before yesterday and discussed the issues. There is money that has already been set aside. Kshs6 billion was set aside in the last financial year, Kshs340 million before that and Kshs6 billion in the coming estimates. We intend to have a workshop with the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA) as well as the National Treasury and all the other relevant stakeholders, including county governments, to deliberate on the review of those regulations. You are well aware that there is also an attempt by Hon. Lati Lelelit to amend the Constitution with respect to how the Equalisation Fund is applied. The Bill is currently in the Senate. We have a pending workshop on hate speech and inter-community cohesion, with the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology - because of technology - the National Police Service, the Director of Criminal Investigations, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the Media Council of Kenya, as well as the leadership of political parties, to deliberate on hate speech and inter-community cohesion as we move towards the next elections. We intend that, through this, we will set some minimum standards that are politically agreeable with respect to the tone that politicians are setting as we move towards the next elections. In addition, we have a joint meeting with the Departmental Committee on Transport, Public Works and Housing and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. We have already met with the National Construction Authority (NCA). As they review the Building Code, we want to make sure that provisions are included to ensure that there is reasonable access for persons living with disabilities into public spaces. You are aware that we have had this challenge even in the precincts of Parliament. We want all of that included in the Building Code such that you cannot put up a building without certain basic provisions for persons living with disability. In addition, we have a pending workshop with the National Treasury, the Public Procurement and Oversight Authority (PPOA), the Council of Governors (CoG) and the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs, with respect to the monitoring of the 30 per cent procurement opportunities, as stipulated in the new Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, which gives the Committee a mandate to regularly review, every three months, which counties or ministries have been giving young people, women and people living with disabilities access 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."
}