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"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
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"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": " Madam Temporary Speaker, I have been here for the two days that this Bill has been on the Floor of the House, listening to colleague Senators speak about a very live topic in our country, presently. 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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{
"id": 1499773,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
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"content": "You will recall what happened last weekend. For the very first time, we were told that the Archbishop Philip Anyolo had returned donations made to his church. From quotas close to the conversation, I have seen the Governor of Nairobi City County saying that he is still awaiting his donation back. I saw him say somewhere that when he inquired because they had said they had returned the donations; he was told that the “fundi”had already cut the material for the choir uniforms because the donation was for uniforms for the choir. So, these are the challenges. These are very live conversations even in the country. Yesterday, I shared something on my Twitter page, and of course, the know-it-all who lives in that space and who never accepts to be corrected for anything did not believe what I said. Today this afternoon, I tabled the report from the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Affairs, where I stated that over 90 per cent of the respondents that sent in memoranda with regard to this Bill opposed it. Just like many colleagues here, a good number have opposed it; it is almost split evenly in the House. There are those in support of the Bill and those that oppose it in principle. Madam Temporary Speaker, we live in an interesting country. If you follow the conversation online, it is like there are two Kenyans. There is a Kenyan online. There is a Kenya, the Republic, where you and I come from. The villages where Sen. Mungatana and Sen. Lomenen come from. There are certain conversations that if you follow in the Twitter and Facebook space, the kind of things that I said there, most of the time do not exist or are not practical in the real world and the people that we represent in this House. For every village that I have visited in the last few months since this conversation began, many pastors have spoken to me. I gave the example of the African Inland Church (AIC) Ziwani, where I was two weeks ago. I was somewhere in Kipkelion West in my County of Kericho this week. The pastors continued to tell me, “please, Senate Majority Leader, you have a very bad Bill that wants stop harambees.” Like many of the colleagues that have spoken this afternoon, they are entirely misinformed. So, there are two issues; first, there is misinformation generally, because this Bill does not ban harambees. It only stops you and I, public and state officers, from presiding over. Otherwise, harambees are permitted. I saw a statement from Archbishop Jackson Olesapit and another from the Catholic Bishops telling us that the church wants to put a stop to this. That is not what preachers tell us in the villages where we come from, including in the parishes of the Catholic Church. Even as I hear what is being said by the Catholic Bishops here in Nairobi, in my own office in the village and our counties. Many of these Members here will tell you that they have cards of pending harambee invitations from the same churches, including the Catholic and Anglican churches. That is why I say that it is like there are two worlds in this country. Some space in the air, called “online”, where you are chasing unseen things, and people compete for 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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"id": 1499774,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
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"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "attention and applause. There is also the real world in the villages where we come from, where people tell us different things. As a legislator, sometimes it is difficult to know which world to react to because of the kind of instructions and the things that I see being said in the online space. I want to believe that the reason Sen. Mungatana spoke the way he did about this particular Bill, perhaps is a brief that he has from the people he represented in this House. These are men and women from Tana River who voted for him. They are saying, Senator, this is what we expect. However, I am sure you are also bombarded by messages and X conversations of people telling you, “stop this. We do not want it to exist.” Our work, as legislators, is increasingly becoming difficult. If you are not careful as a legislator and I warned my colleagues sometimes back here, you can easily chase air in the names of TikTok likes and followership online and miss the real conversation that happens back in the villages. At the end of the day, a legislator is a representative of the people. You must find ways in which you capture the views of the people on whose behalf you vote in this House, and they include those that are in the online space and those that are offline. I have listened to the comments of colleagues about this Bill which are very interesting. Some propose a total rejection. Others such as Sen. Olekina propose that do not just ban harambees, but also look into charitable organizations that run activities in the country to ensure that they do this in strict compliance with our laws. He says in the contributions ensure that they receive from donors abroad, the same is shared for the intended purpose of those who are making those donations. There are those who agree that we need to stop public and state officers from participating in fundraisers for the sole reason that it is one of the avenues through which we can demonetize our politics and reduce the influence of money in our politics. Like the good Bible says, the love of money is the root to evil. Many times, when money is not prudently used, it can be used for bad things in our society. I will propose that in such a time as this where you have a report of the Bill, you have Members who have a divided opinion before eventually putting this to a vote; it would be good to consult further and listen to whether there is a way that the Bill can be enriched, or do we lose the overall intention? Some have taken issue, for example, with the fact that we are proposing committees through which you do not per se regulate, but a reporting mechanism where the County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) in our counties and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economic Planning can receive reports of some of these public fundraisings appeals. This is important and I would not wish that we lose that even in this conversation. How many times have you been invited to a fundraising where months later, if you try to go and check whether that money was used for the intended purpose, you cannot establish whether that happened or not? Maybe the mechanism that has been proposed needs to be refined. It is at this time that many people are beginning to speak on this topic and asking for more time to make their contribution. 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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{
"id": 1499775,
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"text_counter": 232,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
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"content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, maybe with the leave of your Office, it will be an opportune time to provide time for people to either think through and share the amendments before eventually taking a vote on this Bill, including calling for submissions from members of the public. I said this yesterday in my tweet, and this is accurate information. The report that is before the House bears me witness. There is no religious organization that sent in a memorandum on this Bill, and that is quite curious. I see people speaking very strongly. I had expected to see the Catholic and Anglican churches that have spoken publicly in support of this Bill, to send in memorandum in support. There are also others that have spoken in opposition to the Bill. As legislators, that will enrich our work to benefit from their perspective. Madam Temporary Speaker, this is an interesting conversation that the country needs to have before the conclusion and the final determination of what to do with this Bill. As the Senate Majority Leader, I will be writing to the Speaker seeking for additional time for consideration of additional views and give legislators time to reflect and perhaps seek more opinion from their own people. Sen. Mungatana, it will be good for you to ask the people in Tana River County, including the young people that perhaps at the time where this conversation began, said they do not want to see politicians making donations in churches. Let us not lose track of history. This conversation began at the height of the so-called Generation Z protest. It will be important to listen to them over this weekend, especially as they speak in a large gathering at your village back in Garsen. They should speak and instruct you in the presence of the rest of the voters. You will also hear the feedback from the rest of the voters before you cast your vote. Madam Temporary Speaker, this conversation is about trying to reduce the influence of money in our politics. Let us not pretend. Harambees form part and parcel of our body politic. The kind of contributions people make has an influence in the determination of whether to vote for a candidate or not. It may not be the only determinant, but many of the times, it has been used as a yardstick to gauge your abilities and prowess of marshalling resources and people use it as a determinant. If we are not careful and do not put a check on this space of fundraisers, in another two or three cycles of Parliament, you will have these Houses filled up with wash-wash characters. It is increasingly becoming difficult to campaign on issues. How many times do Members of this House go out to campaign, and before they address a gathering, people do not want to listen. They tell you they have heard those stories before. They are already queuing and asking you to finish and sort them out. That they know what they will do at the ballot. We, therefore, have to be intentional. It is not on fundraisers, but includes the overall influence of money as a mobilising tool and determining factor in who gets elected into Parliament and positions of leadership. We have campaign financing laws, but how effective are they? Sen. Mungatana, do you remember when you were running for the last election? We were supposed by law to open an account, through which you channel your campaign finances and manage it, then file returns to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). 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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"id": 1499776,
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"text_counter": 233,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
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"content": "How many politicians observed that? It is until there is intention on us as legislature to show that we will go out of our way to reduce the influence of money in our politics, it will be difficult for us to fight corruption, which is the biggest evil that our society continues to haggle and fight about. This is not just about the political class. In fact, many of the beneficiaries of corrupt practices is those in public offices that are not necessarily political appointees, though people imagine that it is the political class. They are the ones who run tenders and do many of the Government projects. Perhaps what gets to the political class is a small fraction as compared to what remains with the rest of society out there. Madam Temporary Speaker, with those very many remarks, I beg that we take time to reflect as a House before taking a vote on this issue. I have noted that there are Members who have raised serious concerns about how to address certain issues. I will be notifying the Speaker on the same. Luckily, I have Standing Order No.66 (3) that allows the request for putting of a question until a later date. In the intervening period, we could take that opportunity to either consult further or listen to more memoranda from members of the public with regards to this Bill. I will inform the Speaker of this request by way of a letter so that we can make a decision on this issue. With those many remarks, I beg to reply. I request that in accordance to Standing Order No.66 (3), we defer the putting of the question until a later date when all these other things that I have mentioned have happened. I thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker."
},
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"id": 1499777,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1499777/?format=api",
"text_counter": 234,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Senate Majority Leader. That request is granted. We defer the putting of the question. You can dispatch that communication on the request to receive more memorandum and views on this Bill to the Speaker's office."
},
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"id": 1499778,
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"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Putting of the Question on the Bill deferred)"
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"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1499779/?format=api",
"text_counter": 236,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": "I will now reorganize the Order Paper. I request the Clerk to call out Order No.16."
},
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"text_counter": 237,
"type": "heading",
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"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "BILL"
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"speaker": null,
"content": "Second Reading"
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