Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1067450,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1067450/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 280,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Saboti, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Caleb Luyai",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2740,
        "legal_name": "Caleb Amisi Luyai",
        "slug": "caleb-amisi-luyai"
    },
    "content": "There is also a proposal of creating a Youth Commission. Our earlier suggestion was to make it a full-fledged Ministry, but nevertheless, this was a step towards the right direction because the Youth Commission will be in charge of formulating policies that will enable the young people that make the 70 per cent of our population to participate in the art and craft of nation building. The legislative proposals on Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act is also an exciting proposal because we have lost so much as a nation through the graft musketeers. It is time to tighten our laws to provide enough punitive laws to enhance our economic fight against economic crimes. There is also a legislative proposal on the National Economic and Social Council to provide a comprehensive legal framework that our national planning is premised on. We have left our national economic and social planning to political promises, that whatever the presidential aspirants promise the country, is where our country will go. This has been risky to our nation because most of these promises are never fulfilled. So, we need an economic council that will guarantee this nation a clear plan. You have seen how the Americans have designed their federal reserves such that even at times like now, during the pandemic, they are less affected because they have enough federal reserves to cushion their citizens. So, this is also a very progressive national planning Bill that has been captured here. There are areas established under Clause 16 on Page 31 that provide the establishment of the Leader of Official Opposition. There will be a problem because the Leader of Official Opposition must be the person who got the second highest votes in the presidential election, and he must come from a party or coalition of parties with at least 25 per cent of the Members of the National Assembly. There will be a problem, probably, if that leader is the runner-up in the presidential election, but his or her membership in the National Assembly is less than 25 per cent. So, does it mean that Parliament will lack the Leader of Official Opposition? The promoters of the Bill need to look at that going forward. On Clause 28 on the appointment of the Prime Minister, we all agree that this is where we need to be as a nation to balance our different ethnic composition to allow, at least, various regions to be represented in the management of our country. The mixed Cabinet to allow Members of the National Assembly to be appointed Cabinet Ministers or Assistant Ministers is also good, only that the word “may” can be misused. A rogue President may in future use that word to just have two members of his cabinet coming from the National Assembly and the rest coming from outside. So, those are areas we need to look at. On the delimitation of boundaries, there is the argument that the BBI taskforce took away the mandate of the IEBC. I do not see anywhere in this document where they have taken away the mandate of the IEBC. The IEBC will still delaminate boundaries. So, on this argument, the only areas we need to look are “doing boundaries 12 months before a general election”. It may be catastrophic or cause chaos towards the electioneering period, especially in highly tribally emotive areas like where I come from. These are very minor things on the basis of which we cannot stop such a nice document from passing. These are areas that can be looked at. Hon. Deputy Speaker, we need to recognise where this nation has come from. Some of us have been in the centre of the National Super Alliance (NASA) demonstrations. We have gone to the streets. We have been teargassed. I am one of the persons who “consumed” a lot of teargas. A teargas canister was thrown right inside my car through the rear window. Were it not for journalists from an international media house who are trained to save life as they take footage, I could be dead. Hon. Oluoch walks as if he is leaning. You may think he is bouncing, but he is actually suffering from the effects of demonstrations during the fight for what we believed in. 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."
}