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{
"id": 1626082,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626082/?format=api",
"text_counter": 54,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you for your kind indulgence to allow me to read this Statement on the welfare of staff who work for Chandarana Food Plus Supermarket Chain. I rise pursuant to Standing Order No.52(1) to make a Statement on a matter of general topical concern, namely the welfare and general working conditions of staff at the Chandarana Food Plus Chain of Supermarkets, especially at their Diani Branch. My office has received a complaint from staff at the retailer alleging cases of mistreatment, discrimination---"
},
{
"id": 1626083,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626083/?format=api",
"text_counter": 55,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Loud consultations)"
},
{
"id": 1626084,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626084/?format=api",
"text_counter": 56,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Order, Hon. Senators. May the Senator for Nairobi City County, be heard in silence, please."
},
{
"id": 1626085,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626085/?format=api",
"text_counter": 57,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. My office has received a complaint from staff at the retailer alleging cases of mistreatment, discrimination, harassment, racism and unlawful termination of contracts, a clear pointer to levels of illegality and poor welfare at one of the biggest supermarket chains in the country. 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": 1626086,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626086/?format=api",
"text_counter": 58,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "I feel obliged, therefore, to speak out on the matter because it may be a microcosm of a larger problem within not just the retail sector, but across the low-income demographic in the entire country. For a long time, Kenyan low-income earners have, in a desperate attempt to earn an honest living, endured horrible working conditions and unimaginable abuse from many employers and organisations. Many of these go unreported, but with this silence, their cancer might metastasize into a national disaster needing urgent mitigation. Needless to say, low-income earners are the drivers of the economy and their contribution to the Gross Domestic product (GDP) and the national growth cannot be gainsaid. Despite this reality, this demographic is also the most vulnerable to poor conditions of working and weak employment safeguards and is generally prone to bear injustice without requisite support from the authorities. Mr. Speaker, Sir, Article 41 of the Kenyan Constitution prohibits discrimination in recruitment, promotion, pay and conditions of work. Further, the Employment Act, 2007 guarantees every worker access to fair labour practises, fair remuneration and reasonable working conditions as it clearly defines the fundamental rights of employees. However, there exist wide implementation and policy gaps when it comes to private sector and when it comes to these laws being put in practice to protect workers. Indeed, a large section of the private sector remains weak on implementation of employment laws and subsequent protection of the working public. The exploitation must be addressed in its entirety and the root causes remedied immediately. Apart from cases of workplace harassment being a hidden phenomenon, in many of the establishments where the public moves in and out, nearly all of us have at some point encountered employees undergoing overt harassment by their employers. Sixty-two years after Independence, it is time to put our collective foot down and squarely tackle the mistreatment of low-income earners, especially in the retail chain sector. It behooves investors running businesses in the country to treat their local staff with dignity just like it is our collective responsibility, as Kenyans, to create an enabling atmosphere that promotes thriving enterprise in the country as a key cog in employment. It is immoral to simply expect to have a nation of loyal taxpayers without that labour resource being nurtured and protected as the goose that lays the golden egg. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I call upon the Ministry of Labour, trade unions and elected leaders to fearlessly speak out for workers facing such difficulties regardless of the sector they work in. It is important to note that the fear of victimisation is a major cause of silence among victims. It is imperative for leaders to bridge that gap by being firm and principled on the side of justice for the underprivileged. I further call upon the owners and the management of Chandarana Food Plus chain of Supermarkets to address the matter of discrimination and harassment not only at their Diani branch, but in all their units across the country. This is a responsibility bestowed by law and by fair labour practises. I also wish to urge Parliament to work towards tightening laws whose weak implementation tends to open the door for such employee mistreatment within the workforce. Together, we must protect the low-income earners in the country from further exploitation. 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": 1626087,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626087/?format=api",
"text_counter": 59,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "I thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir."
},
{
"id": 1626088,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626088/?format=api",
"text_counter": 60,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " The Senate Majority Leader, proceed."
},
{
"id": 1626089,
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"text_counter": 61,
"type": "heading",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "BUSINESS OF FOR THE WEEK COMMENCING TUESDAY, 22ND JULY, 2025"
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"id": 1626090,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1626090/?format=api",
"text_counter": 62,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is a Statement by the Majority Leader regarding the business of the week that commences on 22nd July, 2025 pursuant to Standing Order No.57(1). Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is the status of legislative business for that week. We have 59 Bills, of which 40 are at the Second Reading and 19 are at the Committee of the Whole stage pending consideration. There are 32 Motions, three of which are pursuant to Standing Order No.238, all of which have been discussed and are now pending conclusion. Further, we have 28 petitions that are pending conclusion by respective committees and like I observed last week, 19 of them are due for reporting already. I can see a number of chairpersons in the House, including Sen. Faki, Sen. Mumma and perhaps some are sitted behind me that I cannot see them. If you are a chairperson of a committee and you have a petition that is due for reporting, we are being very unfair to the citizens that petition this House because they do so believing that we can deliver justice expeditiously. Therefore, I hope that we can do that because that is part of our constitutional mandate. We had an interesting one last week, the one by Mr. Omusundi, which we are already counting the 30 days as we continue to see that violation. It was quite poetic injustice, not justice this time. I spoke about it and on Friday, last week, I went to a function as a chief guest and the Member of the National Assembly had actually branded a photo of themselves on that particular bus. I almost asked them to remove it, but then I figured, the 30 days are not yet over. I hope the secretariat is following up on the resolution of that matter. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I was just making that point to remind our chairpersons on the importance citizens attach to this House, especially with regards to petitions. There is a reason why this House receives almost three times the number of petitions more than our counterpart House. I want to request our chairpersons to, please, not let that very stellar performance and good record of this House disappear. Hon. Senators will also note that, as indicated in Order No.10 and 11 in today's Order Paper, two Bills are scheduled for division at the Second Reading Stage. Further, at Order No.12, the President's Reservations to the Conflict of Interest Bill (National Assembly Bills No.12 of 2023), are equally scheduled for division at the Committee of the Whole Stage. I therefore request our party whips to mobilise the requisite delegations for the divisions to be undertaken to ensure progress is made on this Bill. In particular is the two Bills that we concluded in the previous days; that is, the County Allocation of Revenue Bill 2025(Senate Bills No.9 of 2025) and the Equalisation Fund Appropriation Bill 2025(Senate Bills No.7 of 2025), which we concluded yesterday after a very interesting debate from Members who gave their perspectives on who 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": 1626091,
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"text_counter": 63,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
"speaker": null,
"content": "deserves to be equalized and who does not. It was quite interesting to listen to the various perspectives. Mr. Speaker, Sir, those Bills are now at the Second Reading Stage. I hope we can conclude and vote on them this afternoon, so that next week, we conclude on them and our counties can begin the operations. We are almost getting to the last week of July and we have not considered the County Allocation of Revenue Bill 2025(Senate Bills No. 9 of 2025), which is the final instrument that delivers funds to counties. In today's Order Paper, we equally have the County Additional Allocations (No.2) Bill (Senate Bills No.8 of 2025), another important Bill as well that followed almost the same route like the Equalisation Fund Appropriation Bill 2025(Senate Bills No.7 of 2025). I look forward to the debate on that one because there is good reason why that Bill came up. Therefore, I request that if we can, lets us prioritise voting on those very important pieces of legislation this afternoon for our county governments. I will appreciate. On Tuesday the 22nd July, when the Senate Business Committee (SBC) meets, we shall consider the business for the week, which will include business not concluded on today's Order Paper as well as other businesses that are indicated in the Notice Paper. On Wednesday 23rd July, 2025, we will include Questions to the Cabinet Secretaries as approved by the SBC as well as Motions. Next week, we have the Cabinet Secretary in Charge of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports who will respond to questions from a number of colleagues. We also have the Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises responding to a number of questions, as well as the Cabinet Secretary in Charge of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Bills that I have mentioned earlier that are at the Second Reading Stage include the County Governments (State Officers Removal from Office) Procedure Bill (Senate Bills No.34 of 2024) and the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No.35 of 2024), which quite a number of Senators have had interesting perspectives on. There is also the County Governments (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No.25 of 2023) and the Street Naming and Property Addressing System Bill (Senate Bills No.43 of 2024), which is a very important Bill that will actually respond to part of the issues that were raised in the petition by Mr. Omusundi. The other Bills that are at the Committee of the Whole include; the Sports (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No.33 of 2024); the Public Fundraising Appeals Bill (Senate Bills No.36 of 2024); the Heritage and Museums Bill (Senate Bills No.8 of 2023); the Environmental Laws (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No.23 of 2024); The Statutory Instruments (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bills No.2 of 2023), the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) Bill, The County Governments Election Laws (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bills No.2 of 2024), a NADCO Bill as well and the Labour Migration and Management (No.2) Bill (Senate Bills No.42 of 2024). 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."
}
]
}