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{
    "id": 812794,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/812794/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 49,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cherargei",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13217,
        "legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
        "slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I congratulate my good friend, Sen. Sakaja, for bringing this Petition. We are aware that last week, traders demonstrated, complaining of unfair trade practices in this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, some of us are young and it is sad that most of the people who have been affected by this fight against contraband goods are young people. In as much we support the Government in the fight against contraband goods in this country; it should not become a licence to stifle people of their success. Some of these fights have been taken a notch higher by the police. I had mentioned earlier that, nowadays, the police in my county walk into people’s kiosks and dukas and declare that some of the things are contraband. What are the KEBS and the KRA doing? What capacity do the police officers have to know whether the goods in shops or kiosks are contraband goods or not? The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and the KEBS should be charged for negligence. Why are there contrabands goods in our country? Why are police taking advantage of the situation to harass the small business traders? I hope the relevant Committee will give us a far reaching solution to this problem. I want to see our young and enterprising people enterprising given opportunities to eke out a living because the Government cannot employ everybody in this country. If we want to create more opportunities for the young people, we must create a conducive environment. I urge the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government to be careful in some of his utterances because he may land into problems. For example, there is somebody who has sued the manufacturers of trust condoms because he suspected they were substandard. To him, they were contraband and he is seeking for compensation. There is a failure by the KRA and KEBS; that is why we have substandard goods in the country. Secondly, there is a legal framework which does not allow some jobs to be done by foreigners. I want to agree with Sen. Olekina that if we are not careful, we might find a Kenyan Chinese. I have been told that along Thika Road, we have some Kenyan Chinese. There are roads being constructed by the Chinese in Western Kenyan and other parts of the country. Even in my learned senior’s region - Sen. Orengo’s region - there are many Kenyan Chinese. That is unfortunate. We need to enact a law where foreigners will not be allowed to sell maize and involve themselves in small scale businesses that ordinary Kenyans can do. Dr. Fred Matiang’i, the CS, in some areas is doing a great job for this country. We saw him 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."
}