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{
    "id": 65732,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/65732/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 213,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Mungatana",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 185,
        "legal_name": "Danson Buya Mungatana",
        "slug": "danson-mungatana"
    },
    "content": ", this provision is not there. The Governments should structure something that is both affordable and covers the rest of the public. This is something that needs to be developed as far as the policy that we are discussing here is concerned. We are aware that right now, the boda boda owners have associations where the person who is joining would be required to pay certain fees. He would be required to obtain his Personal Identification Number (PIN) and in some places, given a small flag to show his membership number. This helps the boda boda industry to ward off crooks and things like that, but would it not be more prudent for the Government to think about co- operatives around this industry? With co-operatives, it would be easier to implement issues that talk to insurance policies and it would be cost-effective for the members of that particular boda boda group. The Government also needs to come up with policies on what is really required for a boda boda operator to display. Like previous speakers have said, police officers have taken advantage of the fact that there is no standard requirement of what the boda boda operators are supposed to display or the kind of certificates they are supposed to show. How is a bicycle operator to defend himself if he is stopped and asked for a bribe? He is asked for so much and if he does not pay, he will not operate. The Government needs to come out clearly on what needs to be shown, so that this industry is properly regulated. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am quoting one Dr. Alfred Baraza of Western Maternity and Nursing Home in Matunda in Bungoma, where he said that: “There are serious medical issues that need to be addressed around the boda boda operators”. Because of the dusty roads and the cold conditions, they end up with bronchitis, acute flu and some of them, kidney stones as a result of the body emptying a lot of acid in the cause of working as operators. When a young man suffers from these conditions, who basically has to work every day to earn a living, he is out of action and we incur a loss as a nation. We are not going to address the unemployment problem that we had hoped to address. Health protective measures should be given to these operators through a document that the Government needs to develop as a policy. Other more serious issues have been reported in a research conducted in 2003. Case studies carried out in Busia and Kirinyaga reported that wives complained of a loss of libido from their husbands who were operating boda bodas . What health protective measures are we dealing with? How can we protect ourselves against such serious consequences in these jobs that we are doing? It is a serious issue and I am here to fully support the fact that we need a proper policy and protective health arrangements around the operators. We should not just count the money that is being earned, but also the protection and the health of our young people who are involved in this business. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper of 2001 indicates that more than 50 per cent of the Kenyan citizens earn less than a dollar a day. For these boda boda operators, it is recorded that, at least, each day, they walk away with something like US$2.6, which ranges around Kshs250. There is a reason for the Government to protect this industry and develop a policy that will help it to grow. With those few remarks, I support."
}