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{
    "id": 949929,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/949929/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 96,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "many years of the existence of Parliament, it is at this point that we are thinking about the real movers and shakers of our economy. I cannot think of a more industrious group of Kenyans than hawkers and street vendors. These are the people who ensure that we access goods and wares at very affordable prices, if we need to purchase something urgently without walking to a particular shop or a formally built-up rental space. Sen. Kibiru thought it wise to bring to this House a Bill that will regulate how counties should take care of the supposed to be celebrated, yet a vilified group of Kenyans. That is commendable. After the passage of this Bill, I look forward that in our various home counties, including Nairobi City County, which is one of the most affected by this particular issue, there will be set out spaces for many entrepreneurs to carry out their trade without harassment. I like how the Bill has defined what harassment is. Even just living constantly under fear and threat is equivalent to harassment; the fact that you cannot wake up, leave your house and report to a particular place of work. Not everybody has the ability to rent an office or public space to carry out their business. Therefore, we should not criminalise. It should not be criminal for any Kenyan who wants to put up a kibanda or have a place to sell their goods and wares. It should not be such that up to the time that they have licenses from our county governments is when they will be comfortable. We should provide legislation. We should have local-based or indigenous-driven solutions to our problems. We have people who can afford Kshs100 or Kshs200 worth of space because there is nothing they take away. They should be allowed to utilise particular spaces in order to carry out their trade. It should not cost a lot of money. Unfortunately, as I speak, the harassment continues. We do not need to belabour this point. All you need to do is to take a walk to Moi Avenue, which is not very far from here, at 4.00 p.m. You will see the constant nature of panic and restlessness with which that group of people carry out their business. Some of them are young mothers who are just trying to fend for their children, but are always on the constant lookout. Instead of looking out for customers, they look out for council askaris who show up any moment. There is even evidence that has been documented by brilliant journalists of this country on the kind of humiliation and tribulation that, that particular group of people undergo in the hands of council askaris . Some are even stabbed and killed, while others are beaten up and their goods taken away as they try to eke out a living from something that by all means is legal because the alternative is worse. If we do not allow that kind of entrepreneurial spirit by our people, then we have got to content with the emergence of gangs amongst our communities. This is because if you close the legal channels for making money and make it difficult for an individual to genuinely earn their living, then the consequences are far worse than that. Therefore, one needs to be prepared. It is important that we expedite this particular Bill. We should ensure that our colleagues in the National Assembly concur with us or add anything that is of value, to ensure that the provisions that have been made in this particular Bill are brought to life and domesticated in each of the 47 counties in this Republic. 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."
}