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{
    "id": 775030,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/775030/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 294,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Nyamakima becomes a centre, Gatwikira becomes a market, Toi becomes a market, and Dagoretti Corner becomes a market. Of what use is that to all of us? It does not help anybody. One of the things that I would seek to amend, if not amended, is how do we tap into the potential? We say that Nairobi City contributes 60 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Up to what extent is that GDP or 60 per cent, if you put it in figures, is in billions? Do we return to the city to ensure that it is safe? Yesterday, I watched a very interesting clip on television of a gentleman in Karen who was attacked by AK-47 gun-wielding men, and he shot one of them. But what happens to people like us who do not own a gun, who cannot shoot and do not have CCTV? If you, as the Senate, truly want to help the capital city and many others, one of the things we should do is that when we amend this Bill, we should make sure that in Clause 10, we can put the government to task to buy a certain number of ambulances and fire extinguishers every year. We should not load it on the county government. Nairobi County Government has pending bills of Kshs60 billion as we speak today. Strictly speaking, Nairobi County is bankrupt based on the division of revenue; and Sen. Kihika has said it. Are we actually going to load county governments in some of these amendments with such extra functions without giving them resources? How do we fund and ensure that we just do not make markets for the sake of a market? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have been to some of your markets in Nkubu, which is a big place. They have done a “modern market,” but what is modern about that market is that they have done iron sheets; that is not a modern market! That is what anybody would do; an ordinary Kenyan would do that. The idea of making these markets modern is to make the place efficient in terms of collection, cleanliness and many other things. The women who spend a lot of time in these markets must have sanitation. I do not know about other counties, but in Makueni County, all markets do not have sanitation facilities. So, other than population, the women who spend most of their time in the markets in some of our centres actually have to go knocking their neighbors’ doors to access this facility. Sen. Pareno, this is something I would like to hear all of you mention. The people who spend a lot of time in markets are not men; they are women. So, in making these market centres, making these criteria is good enough, but they do not have the most basic thing – a sanitation facility. We must compel our county governments to ensure that if you are going to upgrade – like you are saying you want to upgrade in Clause 10 – one of the things to check is to make sure that women with children have a facility; that ordinary women working in the markets can have the most basic thing that you can offer any person. It is a basic facility. I have done sanitation facilities through Rotary International when I was its President in Lang’ata. I put hot water showers both in Kibera and in Mathare. It has an ablution block – we do not call them toilets; we call them ablution blocks –because they have water, sanitation, a washing bay and those who can afford can use hot water. In fact, they manage them better than county governments because they pay and they are clean. We can do so for these market centres so that we are a little more useful. We must put a lot of intellect into this. 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."
}