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{
    "id": 816022,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/816022/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 343,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "called Kathekani in Kibwezi, our local people in Kibwezi were not trained how to do those sleepers and because entirely everything for the SGR was imported, even small bolts and nuts were also being fixed by the Chinese. It is strange that Kenyans were doing menial jobs such as pushing wheelbarrows or carrying sand and nothing else. By the time the SGR passed through 170 kilometres of Makueni County, not a single Kenyan could do technical jobs that they ought to do. Why would we allow something like that as a country when we promised to create one million jobs in this country? In other jurisdictions like India, foreign companies cannot trade without having a partner who has 51 per cent shares in that company. Foreign contractors and foreign companies hold the minority shares. We have allowed these people to take over our businesses. For Sen. Kasanga, under Section 22 of the NCA Act, there is a provision for complaint against contractors. The sort of fiasco that we experienced with the NCA regarding the issue of Solai Dam almost moved us to tears. A person from Rift Valley went and looked at the dam. He reported that the dam was constructed in 1980 and it was because of the rain that it collapsed. That is what he said in his report which he signed and gave to the NCA and they approved it. These are some of things that Kenyans do that give rise to the notion that we must hire the Chinese to do simple and menial jobs which should not be done by them. Sen. Kasanga is right about the registration of foreign contractors. When we register foreign contractors, we must, as a nation, tell them that they must partner with local contractors. The jobs must be bid for by Kenyan contractors, so that the expertise being brought by the Chinese or contractors from other nations can only be for value addition. That is the way the country should work. I said in this platform that work permits under Class D are for people who offer technical services not available by Kenyans. For the SGR, you will find carpenters, masons and even cooks who are Chinese. This country is not only lost but we need prayers. This morning I got a call from somebody, through Sen. Olekina, complaining about foreign contractors. What is even worse is that other than giving them jobs, they mistreat Kenyans and terminate them unfairly. They are not subjected to law and they behave as if they have become the law. That is modern day slavery in this country. The purpose of registering foreign contractors is to determine their expertise and the type of companies they want to bring. Sen. Kasanga never mentioned that foreigners come to Kenya as tourists. They go to Sen. Olekina’s county as tourists to see the migration of the wildebeests and all of a sudden in the process they get work permits. When their tourists’ visas are over, they go back to their countries and get other tourists visas and come back and continue working in Kenya. What a country! I am embarrassed to be a Kenyan. So, it is not only the issues of registration and compliance that need to be addressed. I never mentioned to Sen. Kasanga that in the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Bill, I successfully moved an amendment that will see a contractor blacklisted for not performing. Those days when we used to have cowboy contractors are long gone. 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."
}