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{
    "id": 905136,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/905136/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 257,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Zani",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13119,
        "legal_name": "Agnes Zani",
        "slug": "agnes-zani"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, from the outset, I support this Motion. I will start by saying that all people across the countries of the world have all sinned and fallen short of the grace of God. However, there are countries that are doing well. Singapore was in the same position we were in 1963. They did not point fingers at who had sinned or who had done what. That should not be a discussion to be trivialised because we are suffering as result of this. Among the people who are suffering are the street children because sometimes funds are allocated for them but the money is used in a way that is not clear and therefore their problems still remain. Countries like Singapore and even Rwanda are moving fast and they are doing well because they address the problems. When you go to Rwanda, you will not find street children. They have found a way making sure that children are taken care of. We have to wake up and smell the coffee. We need to know where we have gone wrong and how that should be addressed. We need to consider what the former president of the United States of America (USA), Hon. Barrack Obama, told us sometime back. He said that we need to put up strong institutions that should do what they are expected to do. That is what should happen in the second phase of devolution. We should ensure that institutions that are put in place do exactly what they are meant to do. They should also be transparent. Right now, the world over, the buzz is about open government systems and governance. Open governance means everything is done transparently, thus lessening the chances of kitties not having funds like Sen. Kwamboka has aptly put in this Motion. We do not have the data about the Trust Fund but we need to know how much money has been put in the Fund and what has been spent so far. We have been talking about this. What ails this country is either lack of policy or ever-changing policy. Sometimes it is by good luck that we do not have a policy but things tend to work on their own. I remember during the Coalition Government of former president, Hon. Kibaki, and the Rt. Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga, you could hardly see street children. At some point, everything was sorted and street children were not to be found in the streets anymore because they were taken to rehabilitation centres. It is only recently that street children started trooping back. Madam Temporary Speaker, allow me to divert a bit just to explain my own experience. Recently I was driving after leaving the Senate. Just before I got to the General Post Office (GPO) Building, I saw a street child running towards me. I thought he was going somewhere but he fell right in front of the right tire of my car. Luckily, I had seen him and I stopped. Maybe he was running away from something. Those are some of the dangers that street children expose themselves to. The levels of vulnerability, not only for the street children, but also their parents, are high. 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."
}