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{
    "id": 953857,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/953857/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 220,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "mother, father, grandfather or grandmother, you do not know how your children will turn out. Therefore, we should create an environment that accepts, recognizes and supports the children who have been born with such conditions. I was a young teacher before I joined the institution where the Professor who represents Uasin Gishu County, was our teacher. I recall that I wrote a poem titled, “Child of a Mortal God.” This was in reference to the children who are disregarded in society as if they have a God different from the immortal God, who stands up for everybody else. The children with motor-neuron diseases and the conditions that have been described by Sen. Omanga are treated as children of a lesser God. Madam Temporary Speaker, I support the call by Sen. Omanga to ensure that the institutions that have been set up to support these children should not pay taxes. If I was the President for a day, my first executive order in relation to this particular subject would be to impose a big tax on private schools, particularly those that offer international curricula. These taxes would then go into a fund to support special needs education in this Republic. Why would a normal child, whose parent is capable of paying Kshs1 million, enjoy that when the child of a woman from Kibra, who was born in the manner in which God wanted him to be born, be thrown in a dustbin or loiter around begging simply because they have a motor-neuron disease? Let us start creating tax incentives, as proposed by Sen. Omanga. Institutions providing care for children with motor-neuron disorders should not be treated in a ‘business as usual’ manner. About 400 meters from my rural home in Waondo, Homa Bay County, there is Hope School of Children with Physical Disability. There are parents who find relief that they have found somewhere to dump their children. This is because the level of poverty that they go through every day does not allow them to provide proper care to those children. The manner in which their houses are designed cannot allow them to take care of a child with visual or physical disability. Therefore, with the establishment of that centre, it has become a place for some parents to dump their children, because they cannot care for them at home. Another reason is the ridicule and stigma that is associated with those children. There is also another percentage whom I believe get relieved, because their children finally find recognition and an opportunity to learn, study and be mentored in an environment that can guarantee that they can become successful, just like Stephen Hawking, who was a British physicist and a genius of our time despite his condition. Madam Temporary Speaker, if I am a parent of a child with some of these disorders, and assuming I was in the bracket that is capable of buying a car, why should I pay tax to import a car to move such a child from point A to B? Why can I not be tax exempt? Currently, PWDs who want to buy their own motor vehicles are exempted from duty. What about the parent of a child in that situation? This is a conversation that we should be having. Let nobody tell me that we are under so much pressure in tax collection that we cannot afford to provide waivers to the weakest in society. When we hear about the figures of tax evasion in this country, only if the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) was able to collect taxes from the people who are supposed to pay, we would afford reliefs to as many people as possible. 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."
}