HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 105307,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/105307/?format=api",
"text_counter": 192,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Raila",
"speaker_title": "The Prime Minister",
"speaker": {
"id": 195,
"legal_name": "Raila Amolo Odinga",
"slug": "raila-odinga"
},
"content": "Some hon. Members have also said that people will own a maximum of one acre of land. This is also propaganda. However, I would like to assure the hon. Member that civic education will start soon. The referendum will be preceded by civic education where members of the public will be taken through the Draft Constitution, particularly the contentious issues so that they fully understand the implications and do not just live on the propaganda food fed to them by politicians. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Eng. Maina wanted to know what will happen if there is a 51 â 49 per cent vote. Where will this leave this country since the unity of this country is fairly fragile? Secondly, he wanted to know whether it is true that the church has not been listened to. First of all, I would like to inform the hon. Member that at the Bomas of Kenya because we did not start with the Committee of Experts (CoE)--- We were at Bomas of Kenya and we spent months there. The church was fully represented at the Bomas of Kenya. Some of the representatives included Cardinal John Njue; Archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth and Bishop Sulumeti were also at the Bomas of Kenya. So, this issue was discussed at length. They were not part of the people who walked away. They were there until the final hour. The issue of Kadhis Court was discussed and agreed on at the Bomas of Kenya. It was never contentious. So, it is not a question of listening. The church has been part and parcel of this process right from the very beginning. Those are the facts. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to address the issue of fragility of relationship between Kenyan communities. Until we reach a stage one day where every Kenyan will be a Kenyan first and then Mkamba, Luo, Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luhya, Mijikenda and so on second, we will not achieve the Kenya which our founding fathers of this nation wanted. As leaders, we must disabuse ourselves of this notion that we represent communities. We should not go and tell our people: âOur community is going to be disadvantaged if this Draft Constitution is passedâ. This is because we have not prepared a Constitution for any particular community. Why should it be disadvantageous to the Mijikenda than it is to the Kamba, Kalenjin, Kikuyu or Luo? This is a Constitution for Kenya. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, you will find some politicians going out and saying: âOur community is going to be disadvantaged if this Constitution is passed. We are the ones who are being targetedâ. That is ethnic incitement and it will not help this country. Let us carry out civilized campaigns based on the facts as they are. Let us not try to incite communities which will live beyond these campaigns. If this Constitution will disadvantage communities, it will disadvantage all of them and if it will advantage them, it will advantage all of them. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have the National Cohesion and Integration Commission which will watch very closely the statements that will be made by hon. Members of Parliament to ensure that they do not amount to ethnic incitement. For example, why does Mr. Raila Odinga want to say that he can only speak on behalf of the Kamba? Why should I speak just on behalf of the Kikuyu or the Luo? Mr. Raila Odinga, for example, represents a cosmopolitan constituency and he cannot be elected if he only speaks on behalf of one particular community. So, I would like to plead with hon. Members to note that we are going through a very fragile situation. We must ensure that this Constitution will end up uniting our people so that the Kenya which the founding fathers so hard fought for can be born through the new Constitution. Let us, at the end of it, have a re-birth of our country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, Mr. Ethuro said for once, we will be on the same side and I thank him for that. Secondly, he has said that we should tell the truth, which I have already dealt with. Thirdly, he wanted to know the security arrangements which have been put in place or will be put in place by the Government to ensure that the campaigns are done peacefully. I have already said that the Government will ensure that all hon. Members get proper security and protection during their campaigns at the rallies or meet-the-people tours wherever they want to go so that we prove to the world that Kenya has come of age. So, nobody will be molested whether you say âYesâ or âNoâ. The Governmentâs stand, of course, is âYesâ but we will protect unto death the rights of those who want to say âNoâ. Thank you."
}