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{
    "id": 876459,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/876459/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 413,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Halake",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13184,
        "legal_name": "Abshiro Soka Halake",
        "slug": "abshiro-soka-halake"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I alluded to a bit of statistics that our country has with regards to what the social and economic rights are. I would like to revisit that a little bit with regard to some of the issues that we are looking at and why this Bill is very important at this time. The implementation of the rights and fundamental freedom is the duty of the State, and every state organ must do this. Therefore, for the state organs to have a framework within which to do this, it is the incumbent on this House to make sure that this framework exists. Our Constitution states that the State shall take legislative policy and other measures, including the setting of standards to achieve the progressive realization of the rights guaranteed by our Constitution under Article 43, which is about our citizens attaining the highest attainable standards of health, housing, adequate food of acceptable quality, clean water and education, as well as other social and emergency medical support as appropriate. Madam Temporary Speaker, I do not wish to go back, but our country is one that has extremes. We have super-rich people and some of the poorest people on earth. The inequality gap is unacceptable. Until such time that we put certain frameworks in place to correct this, we will not be doing justice to our country as legislators. Therefore, this Bill comes in at a time when we need to ensure that we do not leave anybody behind. I am not saying that the minority and the majority who are poor have access to these things, but while the minority super-rich are accumulating so much wealth, the poor are getting forgotten and becoming poorer. Extreme inequality is getting out of control, and I have said this before. We have an impressive economic growth of perhaps 5.8, and we expect to grow even more. But is that trickling down to the poor and the most vulnerable in our society? We must put in place systems and mechanisms and start giving effect to our Constitution that guarantees decent livelihood; good quality of education, water, food and shelter to our citizens. I would like to mention that less than 0.1 per cent of the population, which is less than 10,000 people, own more wealth than the bottom 99.9 per cent in our country. The richest 10 per cent in Kenya earned on average between 23 and 25 times more than the poorest 10 per cent. The number of super-rich in our country is one of the fastest growing around the world, yet the poor are also the fastest growing. This is because our country is very young and the population of unemployed youth is high. Therefore, we have a huge population that has no access to some of the most basic things. The other day, university students who had been asked by the Ministry of Education to repay the loans given to them by the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) said something amazing. They said that they cannot afford to repay the loan because they do not have jobs. However, the really disturbing thing that we read and saw was the case of a 22-year-old man who attempted to smuggle his daughter in a bag out of hospital because of extreme poverty. He could not afford to pay the medical bill and he tried to fundraise but he could only raise Kshs3,000 or thereabouts. This is unacceptable in the 21st Century and in a country that has sustained a growth rate of close to 6 per cent which is one of the most impressive growth rates in the sub-Saharan African in the last few years. We are grateful for the growth but the question 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."
}