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{
    "id": 721900,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/721900/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 101,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "Thank you. That even makes it easier for me to bring those substantive amendments to that law. When it comes to the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act, the amendments should have come a long time ago, like defining the word “magistrate”. But as we know, these are miscellaneous amendments. Allow me now to focus on the National Employment Authority Act, 2016. This is a piece of legislation I am very proud of, as a sponsor. Of course, it is no longer mine. It now belongs to the people of Kenya. The intention of this law was to streamline the entry into the job market for Kenyans wherever they maybe. For a long time, entry into the public sector would be determined by who you know and, to an extent, by your tribe in most areas. So far, very few counties are complying with the provisions of the County Government Act as regards the requirement that not more than 70 per cent of a county government’s employees should come from the dominant community in that county. Less than 15 counties have complied with this requirement yet there is no way we can sanction the leaderships of those counties which have not complied. Equality of opportunity in terms of employment is a big factor when it comes to national cohesion. Many Kenyans say that they do not feel included because of unemployment. I hold the strong view that one of the variables that the Commission on Revenue Allocation should use when amending the revenue sharing formula is the cohesion index. Devolution is not supposed to create ethnic balkanisation. I know cases of very many people who have been affected. For instance, Mr. Wafula was born in Nyeri County. His father was also born in Nyeri County. He goes to look for a job in the county Government of Nyeri, but he is told to go to Bungoma County because of his name. He goes to Bungoma but since his ID reads Nyeri County, he is told to go back to Nyeri. Does it mean that he can never get employed in the county in which he is living? Very many county governments have not complied with this requirement of the law, but the persons involved have gone scot-free. People continue acting with impunity because the law has no punitive mechanism that can be used to intervene in such cases. I believe such a mechanism should be introduced in this law. My Committee is currently dealing with this matter. We intend to bring certain amendments on this law. I will certainly bring further amendments to this law through the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 2) Bill, 2016 since this Bill concerns the county governments. I am sure you have a very good memory. You will remember that I had to pull out the reference to county governments because of the timing during that particular session in order for us to be able to pass this law. Ideally, a lot of the jobs that we want our young people to access – apart from the international jobs – are within the county governments. We will bring amendments to make sure that we include the county governments within the purview of the National Employment Authority (NEA). I would like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for moving with speed to try and set up the NEA. I hoped it could have been done faster. The Board has been gazetted. The recruitment of the Director-General is ongoing. I am concerned because of one of the things that I was trying to do. A colleague for whom I have much respect, Hon. Naomi Shaban, tried to dissuade me from pursuing this issue, but I had made sure that the person going to employed as the Director- General of the NEA was a young person. We have a culture of age discrimination in this country. This is confirmed by the fact that people cannot take seriously a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is below the age of 35 years. We had put it clearly that whoever it is that is going to occupy that office – even if the academic qualification requirement is a master’s degree with experience – we have people with PhDs in this country who are below the age of 35 years. We have young people leading great institutions like the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), for instance, and 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."
}