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"id": 1049693,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1049693/?format=api",
"text_counter": 229,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Garissa Township, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Aden Duale",
"speaker": {
"id": 15,
"legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
"slug": "aden-duale"
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"content": "Hon. K.J. is saying I am a backbencher. I love being at the back bench, Hon. K.J. This Bill ideally is supposed to make sure that Article 11 of the Constitution is actualised. That is the whole purpose of this Bill and to repeal the old Kenya Library Service Board Act, I think Cap. 225 and actualise Article 11 of the Constitution, which provides - and this is the most important statement in Article 11 - “The State shall - (a) promote all forms of national and cultural expressions through literature, the arts, traditional celebrations, science, communication, information, mass media, publications, libraries, and other cultural heritage.” Therefore, this Bill is basically doing that. Number two and more fundamentally, with the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, there has been a need to align this sector called library services to the Constitution, particularly on the role of national and county governments. In addition, if you read the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, in fact, libraries are functions of county governments. Having said that, the Committee must introduce an amendment. I do not know whether the Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson are here. During my days, Chairpersons and Vice-Chairpersons used to be here. If they are not here, then they should be whipped. We should whip them. They should bring an amendment to Section 6 of this Bill. In addition, in the formation of that board, the Kenya National Library Service Board of Directors, the county governments must be represented. If they will not be represented, then this piece of legislation will be unconstitutional. Library is a function of the county governments. The other two issues I want to raise are that days are gone. You know days are gone. Libraries these days really serve maybe in the rural areas and in the poor constituencies. However, during our days, people used to go to libraries. You know the University of Nairobi Gandhi Library. Even if you were not a student of the University of Nairobi, you could go and read there. Therefore, libraries are key in universities, schools and communities. However, these days with technology, you can read a book or get information from your smart phone. However, what is more important today is that there should be a culture of reading. Why do I say so? You know when I left the Office of the Leader of Majority Party, I had free time. Therefore, apart from reading as obligated by my religion, the Holy Quran occasionally on a daily basis after prayers, I have free time if I am not going to my constituency. Therefore, I have started reading books and it is very interesting. The moment you adopt the culture of reading, you will find reading one after the other. Let me even say that since I left - of the many books I read - there are two books which are very interesting. One, is by Hillary Clinton - the presidential candidate in 2016. You know when she lost she wrote a book called What Happened. In addition, I want to urge other presidential candidates when they lose elections to write books called What Happened . Were they rigged? Therefore, it is good to read Hillary Clinton's book called What Happened after she lost and she will explain to you and you will get convinced about why she lost. The other book which I just finished reading last evening is the book by the former national security advisor to our friend former President Trump, John Bolton. The book is called The Room where it Happened. I am on that route. I am also writing my memoir. I will not call it The Room Where It Happened . However, I am going to say more about the rooms where it happened that brought Jubilee where it is today. Therefore, please next year, Inshallah, around June, July, please, if you will be around, attend the launch of my book. Therefore, it will be similar. It will be called The Room Where It Will Happen . It might not be that title. Therefore, what I am saying is that the culture of reading is important. People do not read. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}