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{
    "id": 1029336,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1029336/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 64,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "Madam Deputy Speaker, my culture requires me to fully express myself. Therefore, I said that in the context that we must respect divergence of opinions so that when you rise at any occasion and speak--- I want to go back to what Martin Luther King said that we should judge people by the content of their character, but not looking at the person and asking who they are. To clarify what I said is that let us appreciate each other. I am grateful that Sen. Khaniri has reminded us that we have a rich culture, which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognises and we have to defend it jealously. One of the things that Kenyans should know is that the World Bank is currently trying to remove certain communities from the list of indigenous groups of people. If you say because of modernization and we allow it in this House for someone out there to come and say that from today, since Sen. (Dr.) Mbito is from Trans Nzoia, he is no longer indigenous or Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr., is no longer indigenous because of economic reasons. All these challenges that I am talking about are things that we need to embrace. In summary, I hope that the Committee that you will task with this Statement by Sen. Khaniri, will come up with a statement and hand it over to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Taskforce so that this issue of preservation of our cultural heritage is included in the Constitution, so that we can bequeath it to our children. The county governments can then be able to appreciate the diversity that modernization has brought in. However, when we have one huge national policy on cultural diversity, we will be trying to do things that we cannot handle. That is because I have no clue how the people of Tana River live. I am a Maasai. I stand up, walk, sleep and think like a Maasai. Our culture is important. I hope that it is not only the economic aspect of the culture that we are going to look at when we are thinking about these historical sites and natural heritage, but also how we can be able to relate to one another and respect one another. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}