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{
    "id": 950031,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/950031/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 198,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Kamar",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 33,
        "legal_name": "Margaret Jepkoech Kamar",
        "slug": "margaret-kamar"
    },
    "content": "conflicts between street vendors and the law enforcers, the ones that we call town askaris. Sometimes, you wonder what the conflict is about. It looks like it has to do with the nonexistence of any right to sell yet street vendors do businesses not for themselves but for other Kenyans. So, this is a group that is deals with available clientele. Whenever there is available clientele, a business person takes up the opportunity. This is a group of Kenyans who are not able to build shops like others or own anything. That is why they are called street vendors. This Bill will therefore help us to regulate who the street vendor is and their operations. I am impressed by a number of features of this structured way of conducting street vending activities. It is only in a neigbourhood in Uganda where you find that every street vendor is known not only by the number behind their dust coats but also by their colour. Those who sell roasted maize have a different color of coat from those selling roasted meat, chicken et cetera . They have that because they have implemented standards and regulated how vendors do their work. This way, it is safe not only for the vendors but also for the customers. Madam Temporary Speaker, there is also an issue of periodic markets that have been introduced by this Bill which is found in the first world. If you go to France, they designate a day as the street market day. A whole street is opened for sales by street vendors. I have been to such a day and it is amazing because they sell more than the shops. The population that comes to shop from the streets is more than any other. Everybody goes to the streets. It does not mean that street vendors sell to the less fortunate in the society; they sell to everybody. Many people come to shop with their children and students also come to shop. So, having designated market days is important for them. We also have our own periodic markets during market days. However, that is always done outside the city. These Kenyans also have a right to the streets in the city. If on a day, for example, a weekend, they are given a certain street, that day, it is known that it is a day designated for them and nobody will harass them. Madam Temporary Speaker, this is an important Bill. Relocation and eviction of street vendors has been conducted in an unsystematic way by our county governments. However, this will be regulated. By having vending zones, it means that the rights of Kenyans will not be violated. The right to acquire goods and possessions is important. The right to protection from harassment is within the Bill or Rights in the Constitution but has not been implemented. This Bill will open up other frontiers for Kenyans to have a very decent way of doing things. They will do their business in a very organized and respectable manner. They will also be respected by the rest of us. As I said earlier, these Kenyans are contributing a lot to the economy of this country, but nobody recognizes them as the engine that drives our economy. They have been considered as people who are invading the rights of others on the streets. We need to understand the fact that what attracts them to be on the streets is us who are their customers. They are not doing it unto themselves and for the customers. All of us believe in buying things off the streets. However, if we can do it in an organized manner, as this Bill states, it will make us progress in that line. 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."
}