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"content": "estates. For example, there are very good skillful plumbers and masons in Kibera. Many of them are engineers, but they are misused by working in the big construction companies owned by Indians. We have a lot of skillful labour in Kibera that ought not to be wasted. We, as a nation, need to utilise these skills. Even as we upgrade people living in the slums, we need to support and help them to be economically productive. As I mentioned, in the Maslow hierarchy of needs, shelter is one of the basic needs. Once these people have shelter, they will aspire to go to the second level of needs, for example, the need for security. However, if they do not have food and clothing, they will not care much about security. When the slums will be upgraded, they will want to be secured. There is also need to have social amenities like hospitals and schools. This will enable children to get quality education and eventually make it in life. This will end the cyclic nature of poverty that could, probably be running in their families. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is need to support this programme and protect the people living in the slums. The minute the slums are upgraded, well-to-do people will want to live there. A case in point is the upgrade of Highrise Estate which was intended for the low-income earners. What happened? The middle-income earners are the ones who are staying there. There is need to support people in the slums. I want to clearly state in this House that crime is not caused by people living in the slums. For example, people in the slum of Kibera never complain of crimes or that their property has been stolen. Crime is committed elsewhere and not within the slums. We need to upgrade the slums to have decent houses and social amenities. We need to also look for a programme to ensure that people in the slums are productive. If people lack food and clothing, they will look for a way out in the neighbouring posh estates. People in the slums can service the posh estates positively or negatively. For example, if people in the slum steal from people in the posh estates, that would be a negative relationship. It is possible to have an arrangement where the slum dwellers are also helped because it is not by choice that they are in the slums. Even if we are talking about upgrading the slums, it should be a temporary measure. If it is not, then the slums will forever be there. It should be a temporary measure and then we look for a situation where we want to eliminate all forms of slums so that we are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) No.1; as in, eliminating all forms of poverty in all ways. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this upgrade can be there, yes, but there has to be a visionary way of sorting out this issue. I also suggest and insist that we should not just mislead this House and say that because these people are living in the slums and are poor, then they are murderers and thugs. No. the thugs that come from the slums come from very far. When they come to steal, they do not even steal from the slums where they live. By the way, if you go to the slums of Kawangware and Kibera, if a thug is found, he is lynched. They do not condone that. In any case, I have had an opportunity of walking into the slums as I have been raising awareness about very many issues to do with disability and cancer. I realised that in the slums, they are highly religious. There are so many churches there where they are taught the value of spirituality but the issue that comes at hand is poverty. When people are poor, it does not mean that they are thugs. If people do not have basic needs, it does 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."
}