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{
    "id": 895404,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/895404/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 247,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Murkomen",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 440,
        "legal_name": "Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen",
        "slug": "kipchumba-murkomen"
    },
    "content": "hands of the appointing authority are tied when it comes to making changes for purpose of delivery of services. That should not mean that we, as politians and the people of this Republic should put pressure for punishment of individuals as if they do not have a right. That if I do not like the face of a certain Cabinet Secretary or if I am anticipating that if so and so will be removed, I will get an opportunity to fight people and create fictitious stories - that is what the President called pitchfork protest - so that you get an opporunity to ascend to that position of office. That does not help because it is a vicisous cycle. Sen. Sakaja made a very important case for putting focus on our economy; the SMEs and small business persons. We must rethink something that happened under this Government. We must rethink the fight against counterfeit goods that is done by people who have no capacity or qualification to carry out the fight. I am saying this because I was a founding board member of the Anti-Countefeit Agency (ACA). Counterfeits are intellectual property related issues. This pen could be written, “made by Bic ” – for you to come and say it is not by Bic, it has been counterfeited, the intellecutal property owner must have registered that intellectual property. Secondly, one must prove, for example, that this water is not actually manufactured by Keringet . Punishing traders in Nairobi is unfair. It would not be proper to tell traders who are hawking goods in Gikomba and the streets that they are selling counterfeit goods. Intellectual property fights all over the world is about protection of rights of big companies. For instance, if there is a huge company that has made profits of billions of money somewhere in Shanghai, China, and has already sold padlocks, and then, some other character in Eastleigh makes some padlocks and writes “made in Shanghai”, why would you punish that person who will make maybe, Kshs50,000 or Kshs100,000 for an issue that the complainant is not there? The intellecual property owner has not complained. The violation of that intellectual properlty is not intellectual property owned by any Kenyan. These goods are not manufactured anywhere in this country. Countries that are pursusing protection of intellectual property and do not want, either generic goods or goods that are similar in nature to what they manufacture, are trying to protect their economy. What are you protecting when you have not manufactured anything? I would understand if you were to protect, for example, Kevian Kenya Ltd, because the juice has been counterfeited by another person locally. I would understand if Keringet water is being counterfeited and you protect it, but clothes, batteries and other goods that are being sold in this nation and are not manufactured in this country should not be a basis for us to punish small scale traders. Sen. Sakaja talked about the taxis; Taxify and Uber and so on. It is important that we have a regime that deals with it because that is e-commerce. You pay money and it automatically goes to or repatriated to another country if it will be paid in cash. First, we must understand that this nation must adhere to the minimum wage. Sen. Wetangula talked earlier about taxi drivers in the US being able to fend for their families, save and invest. It is because they have the minimum wage and minimum working hours. Those hours are adhered to. There is enforcment under labour laws. Every person who does business in this coutnry must sign a particular code of conduct that indicates that he or 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."
}