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{
    "id": 986702,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/986702/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 362,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Kasanga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13185,
        "legal_name": "Sylvia Mueni Kasanga",
        "slug": "sylvia-mueni-kasanga"
    },
    "content": "We shall be looking at restriction of movement. Sen. Sakaja mentioned from the Statement that was brought today by Sen. Wambua that these are areas that have been raised by members of the public. We intend to canvass them when we meet the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government. Also there is the issue of access to justice. There is a lot of outcry like we heard today from one of the Senators who commented on how the youths are treated when it comes to breaking the curfew rules. I have seen today on 411 that the Judiciary is not going to have physical meetings, but they are going to do teams. They are going to open the courts through teams. That is some good progress we are seeing in that area. Mr. Speaker, Sir, from what we have learnt as a Committee, we must stress on Kenyans doing the bare minimums; that is avoiding crowded places, minimize movement, washing hands and social distancing. We must use these measures for prevention. Kenyans must understand that in the event of an outbreak or spreading, the way we have seen in other countries in Europe and Asia, it would be beyond us to cope. That is the reality of things. The fourth thematic area is access to food, water and essential commodities. That is ensuring the continuous supply of food and other essential commodities at affordable prices. We are worried that as much as we cannot move around as it was stated, we cannot access our workplaces and markets, what will be the fallback plan by Government when it comes to this? We pray that we do not go into a situation that may require a total lockdown. However, should we go there, what is the plan? These are the issues that were raised by members of the public. We had a submission from Hon. George Kaluma who made substantive submissions, ideas and how the Government could cope with this and many other people. Persons with disabilities came out strongly on these areas by giving out good ideas on how the Government should manage. We are looking forward to engage further so that we can see the Government’s plan and give the views that we are getting. The issue of transparency in utilization of emergency funds has come up. Everyone wants to know how the funds have been utilized. Is it in fairness? Is it going to the right people? Are the minorities being considered heavily? That is very critical from that thematic area. How are donations being handled? A lot of suggestions on a central handling of donations are coming out. We are waiting to hear from the Ministry on how they are going to handle that. There is also the issue of access to food, water and other basic commodities. Since people need to wash their hands regularly, is water available in every corner of this country? Those are some of the basics. There is the issue of food security for the vulnerable people and households. Today, I saw in The Star Newspaper that if we survive the Coronavirus Disease (COVID- 19), we are likely going to die of lack of food. Lack of food will be our pandemic in this country. Hon. Senators, we need to be seized of these issues."
}