John Michael Njenga Mututho

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 531 to 540 of 1647.

• 6 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I beg to move that The Labour Institutions (Amendment) Bill be now read a Second Time. I thank the Executive for reminding me that we are reading this Bill for the second time. I want, on the outset, to say that I have received a lot of communication from the Kenya Flower Council, in particular and individual farmers from all over the world. I have received heaps and heaps of communications. However, they all agree on one thing; that they are paying their workers over Kshs10,000. None of them admits that they are paying Kshs3,700, Kshs3,500 ... view
• 6 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: The other reason and I think hon. Members need to hear this; I will apologetically mention the name of the lady. A lady by the name Wanjiru was arrested last weekend and detained at Gilgil Police Station. Her crime was neglecting her children. Neighbours thought so. What they did not know was that Wanjiru is a single mother of four and she earns Kshs170 per day from one of the flower farms. So, when her children are crying because of food, they think she is neglecting them. The police took action and arrested Wanjiru and locked her up for neglecting ... view
• 6 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: It is a pity that over 100,000 workers who contribute about 10 per cent to our GDP will never use gas in their life time. At the moment, they are using paraffin to cook their meals. How do we expect them to work efficiently in floriculture industry if they eat ugali with salty water? Floriculture is a very hazardous business because strong chemicals are used. Most of Naivasha flower farms have funeral departments in their organisation. They organise funerals every weekend. Why do people have to die in these farms at that rate? It is because of cancer and other ... view
• 6 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: ( Mr. Mututho laid the document on the Table) view
• 6 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, if this Government was not in a deep slumber, it would have exploited the provisions of Section 44 of Labour Institutions Act. This section allows them to set up wage councils which will address wage paid to workers. It would have been good if the Minister had come and gazetted the floriculture workers council. Under Section 46, the Minister is supposed before gazettement of a notice and on advice of the various councils, to table it in Parliament. I have been in this House for the last four years, but I have never seen her table ... view
• 6 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary deputy Speaker, I do not have to over- emphasize the fact that people who expect to be protected by the law must also respect it. I am glad that the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Labour and Social Welfare is here. I urge him to visit Israel and Ethiopia, among other countries, to see how much flower farm workers are paid. Here in Kenya, they are subjected to slavery wage. Whether we want to believe it or not, slavery exists in the flower farms. We want them to be paid is a living wage. This is so ... view
• 6 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: We have had presentation from quite a number of people. One of them did challenge the legality of a Member of Parliament tabling a Private Members’ Bill. In a lengthy letter written by the Federation of Kenya Employers, they opposed us tabling Private Members’ Bills that would better the lifes of flower farm workers in this country. I want to educate and tell them that they are behind news. They do not know that we are in a new era and we have a new Constitution. They have no idea what a Bill and law are. If they did, they ... view
• 6 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the second function of a Member of Parliament is legislative; making laws. We can amend and appeal them as the Constitution requires. We do not have to ask for permission from FKE or, indeed, any other interested party on that particular function. view
• 6 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the final function is that of oversight. The oversight function is where the Departmental Committee on Labour and Social Welfare comes in. I wish that they get and spare enough time, particularly when we go for vacations, so that before we come to the Committee Stage, they can verify to be able to see what these workers go through. I am saying this because it is one thing to say here that people are complaining and the economy will flop, but another thing altogether when newspapers screen headlines that the flower industry is avoiding to pay ... view
• 6 Dec 2011 in National Assembly: Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to remind you the figures again so that you know the exact value of the flower industry. The exact value is what they talked about when there was an unfortunate incident of the volcanic ash in Europe. What they reported then is that this industry is worth 1.9 million Pounds per day. That is what this industry is worth. So, you can calculate that by the number of days in a year, because flowers grow every day, and that will give you the billions that Kenyans never earn because of double invoicing. That is ... view