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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wakili Sigei",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Sen. Mumma. I will now allow Sen. M. Kajwang’ to make his comments."
},
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"id": 1547723,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
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"speaker": {
"id": 13162,
"legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
"slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the report of the Committee on Labour and Social Welfare that is chaired by our senior in the House, the very able Sen. Murgor. This report is with regard to the Persons with Disabilities Bill which was sponsored and brought to this House by Sen. Crystal Asige who has played an exemplary role in promoting and mainstreaming the conversation about persons with disabilities in this Parliament. She has truly lived up to the calling that led to her nomination to this Senate. Congratulations, Sen. Crystal Asige. I am aware that there could be other Bills in the offing. I just met your co-sponsor of the Startup Bill. I am happy with certain amendments you are making to the environment laws. This is exemplary because this is the reason why we are in Parliament. Sometimes people think we are in Parliament to be able to go and launch classrooms, issue bursaries and sanitary pads. We are in Parliament primarily to influence legislation; to convert policy into legislation. We are in Parliament to give voice to the voiceless. We are in Parliament to ensure that those to whom power has been entrusted are not abusing that power. That is a main responsibility of a parliamentarian. I would like to urge those who think that the job of a parliamentarian is brick and mortar, is 90 per cent development. They are in the wrong place. If they want to do so, let them go to those positions of Executive authority, where they can do brick and mortar. Let them leave the intellectual aspect of ensuring legislation is fit for purpose to those who are willing to sit in Parliament. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I recall contributing to this Bill at the Second Reading stage and I was in support. We were also happy that finally we found a Bill that was aligning with the Constitution. That was bringing a human rights approach to handling matters of persons with disability. We were happy that a robust institutional The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1547724,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1547724/?format=api",
"text_counter": 258,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13162,
"legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
"slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
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"content": "framework was being established through the National Council for Persons with Disabilities to oversee the implementations of the provisions of the Bill. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when we commented on this Bill, we were happy that it provided certain tax reliefs and fiscal incentives to encourage employment and support of persons with disabilities. I am happy that the National Assembly did not object to the main principles that were espoused in that Bill. The basic structure of the Bill has remained the same. The National Assembly has brought back more or less editing and slight corrections that would further enrich the Bill. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am talking to the report because to repeat my earlier contributions on the concept of the Bill would probably be a violation of the Standing Orders. However, this Bill was published on 20th February, 2023. We are now on the 2nd of April, the year 2025. It tells you the average time it takes to process a private Member's Bill. I do not know whether it is that way because of robust public participation, or it is that way because of internal bureaucracy. I hope that in the two years that have lapsed between the introduction of this Bill to today, when we are adopting the report of the committee, most of that time has been spent in public participation and stakeholder engagement. I would like to encourage office of the clerk, particularly committees, to take a purposive approach to public participation. Purposive in the sense that if you are dealing with a Bill on persons with disabilities, you are able to list the stakeholders which you feel are relevant and who can provide positive or critical feedback on the proposed Bill. In the past, or traditionally as Parliament, we could publish a notice in the newspapers and hope that someone will read that notice and respond. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we have seen situations where on a serious Bill, you would only get four or five responses from the usual suspects, like the Council of Governors (CoG), County Assemblies Forum (CAF), a ministry, yet there are so many other stakeholders. So, I would like to encourage a purposive approach, where the clerks can sit with the sponsor of a Bill, scan the landscape and say, within this space of persons with disabilities, who are the people whose response and whose participation and feedback we would get? We were dealing with the Addressing and Street Numbering Bill that was sponsored by Sen. Dullo, a very comprehensive framework that will change the way we number and name our streets in the cities, municipalities, towns across the country. When we looked at the public participation matrix, we had no response from any institution of urban planners, institution of architects and from people who are subject matter experts. However, we had responses from Nairobi City County. We had just about four or five responses. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if it has taken two years to incubate this Bill, we hope that no one will run to court and allege that there was inadequate public participation as has happened in many other legislations. I hope that now that we have just two more years to the closure of this Parliament and I know that Members still have Bills. We still have Bills coming in for First Reading. If this progressive Bill by Sen. Asige has taken two years, it sounds like bad news for anyone who is bringing a Bill right now. If that is the average time taken to process, The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1547725,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1547725/?format=api",
"text_counter": 259,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13162,
"legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
"slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
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"content": "then for those of us who are still in pre-publication scrutiny on our Bills, it is a bit discouraging. So, I hope we can look at our internal processes and find a way of fast- tracking things. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I would like to hail the National Assembly that for the first time they have not pulled the money Bill card, which has been used to kill legislation that is originating from the Senate. This is the spirit with which we should operate. It must be put on record that we can never condemn the National Assembly in a wholesome manner. There are very good people in that House and I interact with them. We interact with them in our counties. We interact with them in social places within the precincts of Parliament. You will find them at the restaurant, gym and library. There are very good people in the National Assembly. Let it not be a wholesome condemnation that this Senate has a fight with the entire institution, or that House has a fight with the entire institution of the Senate. What sometimes gets out of order is just overzealous Members who because of local competition and local politics, want to belittle the institution because perhaps there is a Senator who sits here and seems to be getting the advantage at the ground. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the consensus on this Bill has further proven that point. That if we get our act right, we can work together for the betterment of this nation. I hope that can also apply to the other Bills that have painstakingly taken our time to process. For instance, allocation of resources that should be going to county governments. These county governments are the theatre of operation where even empowerment for persons with disabilities starts at. You do not expect that persons with disabilities should troop to Nairobi to seek opportunities. That is why devolution was brought. So that through the principle of subsidiarity, if someone is impaired and is unable to travel or walk, you do not force them to climb a plane or to take a train or a bus to come to Nairobi to seek opportunities. Those opportunities can be found there at the county level. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, that is why even if you find yourself in a situation where you do not agree with your governor, you cannot disagree with the concept of devolution. It must be made clear that when we criticize and we put governors on the spot and in the firing line because of misuse of public resources, we will never stop supporting devolution. Bad governors will come and go, but those counties will remain. Bad governors will be elected and will be kicked out of office. However, the people in the counties are Kenyans and they deserve to get services. I will conclude just by encouraging the House that we quickly process this Bill, so that it also goes on record that this House has processed a number of Bills which have originated from here and have become law. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, my County Boundaries Bill seems to have gone to purgatory. It is somewhere. We are never sure whether it will go to heaven or hell. It originated from the Senate and we do not know the end of it. I hope that the National Assembly will prioritize the Bills that come from the Senate, the same way that the Senate has always prioritized the Bills that come from the National Assembly. I support the Report of the committee. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wakili Sigei",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Hon. Members, that brings us to the end of the contributions by Members because there seems to be no other member willing to contribute to this Motion. I, therefore, call upon the Mover of the Motion, Sen. Murgor, to reply."
},
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Murgor",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, and thank you too and Members for their contributions. Pursuant to Standing Order No. 66(3) ---"
},
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wakili Sigei",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. Mugor, before you make that request, kindly reply to the Motion procedurally, so that you make your application."
},
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"text_counter": 263,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Murgor",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I thank all the Members for contributing very positively. Some are here and others have left. I thank Sen. Veronica, Sen. Mumma, Sen. Kajwang', the Senator for Nairobi City County and Sen. (Prof.) Kamar. I am very grateful to all Members who have contributed positively this Bill."
},
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"text_counter": 264,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Murgor",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "With those few remarks, I beg to reply."
},
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"text_counter": 265,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wakili Sigei",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Now you can make the application, pursuant to Standing Order No. 66(3)."
}
]
}