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{
"id": 1556292,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1556292/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. I will take my 27 minutes and speak on behalf of my colleagues who wanted to weigh in on this matter because it affects the lives of many people that they represent. Yesterday, I got a couple of points as I listened to my colleagues who supported this Bill. One was from Sen. Eddy Oketch, who---"
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{
"id": 1556293,
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"type": "scene",
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"speaker": null,
"content": "(Loud consultations)"
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{
"id": 1556294,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1556294/?format=api",
"text_counter": 236,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I do not know what is happening today. We were doing so well with this Bill, and it seemed like all stars were aligned, but we now have challenges."
},
{
"id": 1556295,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1556295/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
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"content": "Sen. Eddy Oketch said that there is an existing piece of legislation, that is Section 18 of the Basic Education Act. I want to clarify that my Bill comes in to expand on Section 18 of the Basic Education Act just stipulates that Government should provide sanitary towels. It does not give the frequency, quality, authorities or monitoring and evaluation. A lot of things lack in that amendment and those are the grey areas where all the shenanigans have been happening. So, my Bill comes in to cure that. This Bill will ensure that there is a proper legal framework so that no Government will give an excuse as to why they are not providing free sanitary towels to all schoolgirls. We are also adding tertiary institutions because Section 18 that Sen. Eddy Oketch was relying on only provides for primary schools. We have also added women who are in prison facilities in this country. We want a stand-alone Act because of the substantial matter that is being added. This Act will cover all things in terms of the provision of free sanitary towels."
},
{
"id": 1556296,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1556296/?format=api",
"text_counter": 238,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "I heard Sen. Mungatana speak on the powers that this Bill is going to give to an independent committee. According to the definition and his submissions, he said that the committee was going to be equivalent to a parastatal. What is happening is that there is a big fight and that is why this Bill is important. People want our schoolgirls to get sanitary towels and different institutions actually support the provision of sanitary towels. Our women representatives, Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender and the Ministry of Education all support provision of sanitary towels. All these institutions are fighting to be the custodians of the procurement and distribution of sanitary pads. That is why we have never made any headway in terms of the impact on this budgetary allocation. Do you know what my Bill is attempting to do? It is attempting to take away that authority from any of these actors and devolving it down to the counties and the beneficiaries of those sanitary towels. So, instead of debating on whether these independent committees are going to have powers to the level or to the extent of a parastatal, the argument should be why have we not made headway when it was domiciled at the Ministry of Education? The answer is very simple. This is because procurement and distribution never had a legal framework. Why is it that we did not make headways when we brought it to the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender? The answer The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and Audio Services, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1556297,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1556297/?format=api",
"text_counter": 239,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "is the same. We did not have legal framework, no monitoring and evaluation and the authority that was involved did not put into place the things that are needed. All I am saying in this Bill is that money should be taken from the national Government. The money should be taken away from all these actors, who have conflicting interests. That money should then be taken to the people, through those independent county committees which will focus on procurement and distribution of sanitary towels. They will also focus on advocacy on menstrual hygiene and advocacy on ending period stigma and shame. They will basically focus on the beneficiaries of this Government programme. I understand that Sen. Mungatana is a little bit not okay with the independence of that committee. However, it is important to note that the independence of that committee is what will ensure that all these agencies, women representatives, Senators, and governors will be merely oversighting a Government programme and not being part of the procurement. So, those powers are necessary and the power belongs to the people. As a legislator, I cannot argue to take away the power from the people. What I am saying is that we should give the power to the people for them to decide the kind of menstrual hygiene products they need. They should decide when they need them, how many times it should be distributed and who is going to be involved in the distribution. This Bill is basically attempting to give the power back to the people. I, however, understand that it is a very uncomfortable place to be for certain offices, including the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender, our women representatives who are oversighting the NGAAF and Senators who would perhaps have liked to play a role here and there. I am legislating on the fundamental basis on the right thing to do. The right thing to do is to ensure that those who have control of procurement and distribution are the actual beneficiaries of that programme. They should feel the impact that it was intended to have. I want to highlight on something that was brought about by the sentiments of Sen. Eddy Oketch. The Education Act does not talk about the menstrual hygiene policy that we have. By the way, Kenya is the first country in Africa that put together a Menstrual Hygiene Policy under the Ministry of Health at that time. This is because it was being funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This Menstrual Hygiene Policy is an important piece of document that just sits in the Ministry of Health. Nobody is implementing it. I was surprised to learn, upon joining the Senate, that the Menstrual Hygiene Policy could have been easily implemented by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Health or Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage. They could have drafted the necessary regulations and presented them to Parliament for approval. The Menstrual Hygiene Policy is a basic document that focuses on ensuring women and girls menstruate with dignity. What does it look like? This involves providing essential facilities such as toilets, ensuring privacy in these facilities, access to water and sanitation and environmentally friendly disposal of sanitary towels. These are measures we would have expected the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage to address through regulations. However, that has not happened. This Bill seeks to ensure that moving forward, regulations are established. For the benefit of the public listening, these regulations represent the delegation of powers by Parliament to the ministries, enabling it to create policies in specific areas. You would be shocked to learn that some entities in Nairobi's CBD lack toilets. Workers go to these establishments daily, yet basic facilities are unavailable. For instance, there is a popular shoe store with branches across the country that does not have toilets. If we had regulations under the The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and Audio Services, Senate."
},
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"id": 1556298,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1556298/?format=api",
"text_counter": 240,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Menstrual Hygiene Policy, one requirement should be that any commercial entity with a physical address must provide toilet facilities. These facilities should ensure privacy for women and girls to menstruate with dignity. Furthermore, businesses should address the proper disposal of menstrual hygiene products. The policy should also address how organizations handle issues of period shaming. Recently, we witnessed a disturbing incident at a cheese factory where women were subjected to humiliation. They were forced to strip so the management could identify who was on their period, all because a used sanitary towel was disposed of in the wrong bin. If we had regulations in place to guide establishments on acceptable practices, clearly defining what is and is not permissible, such shameful and unfortunate events would not occur. Mr. Temporary Speaker, some of these issues go unreported. If you were to look into my inbox, the number of complaints from workers at the Export Processing Zones (EPZ) is crazy. There are rogue institutions that do not care about women menstruating with dignity. I was truly shocked to realize that even here in Parliament, as I stand advocating for this Bill, we fail to provide sanitary towels in our toilets. We enjoy abundant luxuries, such as water on the table, gym facilities and other amenities. Yet, how difficult would it be for us to simply provide sanitary towels? As leaders, we should set an example and demonstrate how things ought to be done. Mr. Temporary Speaker, as I reply, I wish to acknowledge those who contributed yesterday, particularly Sen. Karen Nyamu, who highlighted the importance of shelf life in promoting local manufacturers. During the Generation Z movement, I got the heat for advocating for local manufacturers. I recall shouting at the top of my lungs through my social media platforms, asking the public: should I, as a legislator, fight for those importing sanitary towels or should I champion policies that support local manufacturing industries to create jobs? Period poverty is deeply rooted in poverty itself. Poverty is the true enemy. Whenever someone reaches out to me, I always emphasize that addressing poverty is the key to solving many of these issues. If we can tackle poverty, most of these challenges will disappear. However, how can we deal with poverty when we are constantly promoting hashtags that support products manufactured in China, products whose quality we cannot even track? Every day, there is a new hashtag promoting this or that. Throughout this period, I have consistently advocated for supporting local manufacturers. I am proud to say that throughout this journey, I have walked with several local manufacturers who truly understand the challenges of employing Kenyans to produce and manufacture sanitary towels. Among them is SAI Industries, which produces a pad called Fimela. Whenever my fellow legislators request pads for distribution, I reach out to them, fully aware of the weight they have. The competition between local manufacturers and importers of substandard products, particularly from countries like China, is crazy. For instance, sanitary pads are imported at a cost of Kshs7 per packet, only to be sold on shelves in Kshs80. A local manufacturer spends between Kshs22 and 27 to produce one packet of sanitary towels yet, they are forced to compete with importers who bring in packets at just Kshs8 and sell them at Kshs80 on the shelf. I cannot, under any circumstances, not for votes, nor for public approval, stand anywhere in support of the importation of sanitary towels. My Bill takes a holistic approach to addressing period poverty. It focuses on advocacy to end stigma and ensure that our girls are sensitized on menstrual hygiene. It also emphasizes the The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and Audio Services, Senate."
},
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"id": 1556299,
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"text_counter": 241,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "provision and access to menstrual hygiene products by requiring the Government to ring-fenced budgets for their purchase and distribution. Additionally, the Bill tackles the root cause, poverty, which is the most sustainable solution. To combat poverty, we aim to promote local manufacturers. We have a local company here, Flora, and every time there is a Government tender for the supply of sanitary pads, whether under the Ministry of Education or Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage, you will notice that companies like Flora and Fimela and all the local manufacturers employ significantly more people during that period. Now, consider this, if I, as an individual, cannot access sanitary pads because I lack the money, providing me with a sustainable job in one of these factories solves that problem. In that case, there would be no need for donations because I would be able to afford the pads myself. This is one way of dealing with poverty. I agree with the concerns raised by many people online regarding the cost of sanitary pads. The only way to address this issue is to kill the unfair competition posed by products imported from unregulated markets. These imports, priced at as low as Kshs6 or Kshs7 per pack, are then sold on shelves at Kshs80 per pack, allowing importers to make significant profits. Meanwhile, we face recurring complaints about the substandard quality of these products, issues such as girls developing infections and the inability to properly dispose of them due to excessive plastic content. This Bill seeks to put an end to these practices. When people say, 'We are tired of your billboards; do something sustainable,' I want to assure them that this is precisely what I have been working on for the past two years. I am glad for this opportunity to clarify what this Bill targets to achieve. I have immense faith in the legislators who understand the intent of this initiative. The Bill aims to ensure the provision of sanitary towels to vulnerable girls in schools, as well as to girls and women under the care of our prison facilities. Furthermore, it seeks to tackle period poverty holistically by promoting homegrown solutions, fostering county-level engagement and implementing grassroots interventions. The grassroots level will guide us by highlighting that we are not going to---"
},
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"id": 1556300,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1556300/?format=api",
"text_counter": 242,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Thangw’a",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "On a point of information, Mr. Speaker, Sir."
},
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"id": 1556301,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1556301/?format=api",
"text_counter": 243,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Sen. Orwoba, would you like to be informed by Sen. Paul Thangwa?"
}
]
}