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"id": 833650,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/833650/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
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"speaker": {
"id": 13131,
"legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
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"content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, back to the issue of petitions, I am excited that once this is passed the ordinary Nairobian will be able to go and present their petition on an issue that affects them. I said earlier that we should not be looking at county assemblies in a condescending manner, thinking that we will give them capacity. Sometimes we learn from them. Madam Temporary Speaker, people have vilified my County City Assembly of Nairobi, but I am very proud of those individuals. I know that they are honourable men and women, but in one incident they slipped a bit, just because of the behaviour of a few of them. However, they are honourable men and women. In fact, many of the Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) in Nairobi were elected with more votes than most of the Members of the National Assembly, and they must be respected. Let us see how we can increase, work better together and share experiences on how to serve our people better. Madam Temporary Speaker, I am glad that one of the petitions that have been dealt with in the Senate is from Nairobi small business owners and traders, and I will bring more. I will encourage them to go out more and listen to what those issues are. Sometimes it is you, as a leader, Senator or MCA, who would advise people when they come to you on how to come up with a petition. A petition, as opposed to a statement or any other form of expression or as even a Bill, has a specified timeline. If any Kenyan brings a petition to the Senate, it must be dealt with without fail in 60 days. This is a gem that many citizens have never understood or realized that they have that capacity and provision within the law. As we deal with the present challenges that we have, in fact there is one petition that was brought to me and I have been discussing. Once this Bill is passed, I will propose that the petition goes to the County Assembly of Nairobi. The petition is on the issue of extrajudicial killings. Yesterday, there were riots in Kawangware because of a young person who was shot and killed by the police. He was picked up from a recreational facility. I have dealt with a few more cases in Dandora and Kayole. I know some boys who were picked out of a garbage truck and shot pointblank. I think we are sliding into anarchy. In as much as we have crime in this city, we need to make sure that we solve it. But we cannot be the same ones creating the problem and then killing our young boys. Killing the youth is not a solution to crime or unemployment. The bigger problem is that we are causing unemployment. We do not want them to steal, yet we are the ones chasing them when they ride boda bodas, demolishing their vibandas when they decide to go into trade and arresting them in matatus when they decide to go into that industry. We are not providing, implementing the laws, creating the national employment authority and making sure that we have 30 per cent procurement opportunities for youth and women. We think that the solution is killing young people. It is most unfortunate. Through the Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations that I am a part of, we will look into the issue of extrajudicial killings. There is a reason we have the rule of law. If we allow the police to continue doing this, in the name of dealing with thugs, tomorrow it will be your nephew or son. In fact, yesterday, there was a case of a boy in the United States International University (USIU), a university where many Senators might have their children. A young The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}