26 May 2020 in Senate:
(a) The Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) (b) The Matatu Owners Association (MOA) (c) The East Africa Tour Guides and Drivers Association (EATDGA) (d) The Transport Workers Association (TWA) (e) The Digital Transport Forum (DTF); These are stakeholders in Uber, Taxify and other digital App cabs. (f) SWVL Kenya; This is a company with interesting and new innovative ways of transport in the matatu industry. We also met the following from the education sector- (a) The Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (KESSHA) (b) The Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association (KEPSHA) (c) The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) (d) ...
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26 May 2020 in Senate:
The COVID-19 pandemic situation is still evolving. As such, the observations and recommendations contained in this report reflect the situational context, and information that was available to the Committee at that time. We will keep updating. That is why we are calling them progress reports. Madam Temporary Speaker, for the current situation in relation to the thematic area of social, public order and human rights, we note and make the following observations- (a) The pandemic has adversely affected key sectors of the economy, especially trade, tourism, agriculture, and manufacturing, leading to massive revenue losses and, therefore, consequent job losses. The ...
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26 May 2020 in Senate:
Madam Temporary Speaker, we have also noted a misconception that the only people who need to be cushioned are those in slums. There are many of us who, if we miss two salaries, we will also need to be cushioned. Imagine the staff from Kenya Airways (KQ) without a salary and they are not living in slums. For example, a husband who is a steward and a wife who is an air hostess who lives in Pipeline cannot pay their rent or buy food without their pay. We need to think of a wage or a business subsidy fund. At ...
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26 May 2020 in Senate:
Madam Temporary Speaker, the Judiciary’s upscaling of services has been extremely slow. We met with the Judiciary and agreed on certain things. They have not yet scaled up their services to keep the wheels of justice turning. The Ministry of Health was to complete inspection of courts by 24th April, 2020. They have not done it to determine the magnitude of upscaling. It is yet to be done for very flimsy reasons; someone said that they are trying to set accounts for the Judges and it would take four weeks to do so. Madam Temporary Speaker, we agreed with the ...
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26 May 2020 in Senate:
some of the recommendations, but we need them to upscale them. This is because, in the absence of the Judiciary functioning, other sectors are taking advantage. Madam Temporary Speaker, at that point, we said that the police are now giving people spot fines and almost performing the work of the courts. Once you give them that, they will not bring it back. That is not how our Constitution envisages access to justice. Madam Temporary Speaker, persons engaged in the public transportation industry had been experiencing challenges due to lack of renewal of various licenses and suspension of services by the ...
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26 May 2020 in Senate:
We have also observed that evictions being carried out during this COVID-19 season, whether notices had been issued or not, are inhuman and uncalled for completely. The Committee notes that the President had directed that no evictions will be carried out, but we have seen evictions still went on. I even brought together the 17 Members of Parliament (MPs) in Nairobi. The Women Representative and Nominated Senators, Sen. Kwamboka and Sen. Omanga, came for that meeting. We met with the CS for Interior and Coordination of National Government, the CS for Health and the CS for Water and Sanitation. We ...
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26 May 2020 in Senate:
do not choose whether or not you will be oversighted. We have not suspended the Constitution. I will urge Senators to stand with us on this. Sen. Faki will tell you that initially in my Committee I was being accussed of being too friendly to the Government when one of the Cabinet Secretaries did not appear before us. When I issued the summons, they thought that since they are our friends, they could deal with my Committee as they wished. I want to tell them even if they are our friends, we are not calling them for tea. It is ...
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26 May 2020 in Senate:
University (SONU). We know each other very well, but I want to assure him that his is no longer in the university. Learning is not going on and the syllabus is not being covered. The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) came and told us what is going on in the universities. There is no learning taking place in this country. It is not just in Kenya, but it is all over. We are saying let us just be practical. Let us give our children the best quality, given the situation. Madam Temporary Speaker, early marriages have increased due to abrupt ...
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26 May 2020 in Senate:
but they have not been benefiting due to lack of prompt updating of the register. As of last week, the CS confirmed that, that is going on so that they can get back on to that register. The mode of transmission of money to older persons registered under Inua Jamii initiative requires physical presence which may expose these elderly people who are vulnerable to this pandemic. This is a breakdown of our society. If you heard what the CS was telling us - that many of these old persons insisted that money should not be sent to their phones because ...
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26 May 2020 in Senate:
Madam Temporary Speaker, the only way to stimulate--- the stimulus to the economy must be through small and medium sized enterprises and the informal sector. About 88 per cent of the young people in this country are employed in the informal sector. They are in the manufacturing and retail sectors. We told Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) to stop getting imports, but embrace local products. Kenyans can do masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs). In fact, even after the CS after testing samples from China and also from Kenya, with the labels removed, he could not tell the difference. He ...
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