Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 948314,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/948314/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 413,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Bomet CWR, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Joyce Korir",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 11255,
        "legal_name": "Joyce Chepkoech Korir",
        "slug": "joyce-chepkoech-korir"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. They were distracting me. I do not see the reason we should bring a lot of issues on this matter that affects Kenyans. The Committee is trying to make sure that the employees who are outside the country are attended to well. On the issue of employment contract, there is a standard measure that they use across board. We were given facts by the embassy. According to the contracts, employers do not have the authority to transfer any employee to another family without the consent of the person who facilitated the employee to get there. There are a number of unscrupulous agents who have been taking youths to these green pastures without following the due process. I heard Hon. Millie raise the issue of agents who have been taking our people but the Ministry, in conjunction with the Committee, has done a lot in terms of streamlining the agencies. We had over 1,000 agents, but right now we have only 103 that have been vetted by the Government and have been levied some charges. They are supposed to pay up to Kshs5 million and this money is supposed to assist employees in case they have disagreements with employers. The amount of money can be used to assist employees to come back to the country. So, a number of things have been streamlined, but it is only that the agreement is still new. A number of things have assisted these people. The Committee did a budget of about Kshs50 million. They need to establish a complaints office. Right now, they use the embassy. They want to establish a complaints office where they can take their complaints, sort their issues; a place where they can be given accommodation when they have issues with their employers. Those are some of the things we went there to address. When it comes to issues of work permit, it is issued only to employees who enter the country on contract, but there are some who just go as tourists and end up looking for jobs. Those are the few individuals who are complaining. We are talking of over 40,000 people who are in Saudi Arabia. The people who are complaining are less than 2 per cent. Many youths are fighting for space not only outside, but also in this country, but they can never access the same. I know employment of prison warders will start tomorrow and you will see thousands of youths at the recruitment centres. In Bomet alone, you can have over 10,000 young people and they will select only about five of them. These are desperate youths. Though they are desperate, as a Committee in charge of labour issues, we are streamlining issues pertaining to employment and working conditions. There is also the issue of hours of work, where employees work for seven hours a day. I have witnessed a number of workers and have seen some captured on camera being mistreated The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}