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{
    "id": 1091512,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1091512/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 213,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kwanza, FORD-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Ferdinand Wanyonyi",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2065,
        "legal_name": "Ferdinard Kevin Wanyonyi",
        "slug": "ferdinard-kevin-wanyonyi"
    },
    "content": " Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I have been listening. I take this opportunity to make my remarks. We need some clarifications which have been given. Therefore, I agree with the House that, first of all, we have had this law since 1951 when some of us were not even there. The purpose of it coming before this House is for us to rectify and make sure that it is not necessarily Islamic. It has been made very clear that this is not necessarily Islamic although it was moved by the Islamic community and has been there for some time. I agree that because of corruption in this country, properties that have been given out by well-wishers in this country have been lost. Some were meant for helping the poor, the needy and families that are lagging behind. We have recently had cases of corrupt people taking advantage of properties set aside for waqf. Therefore, there are some questions that need to be answered, one of which was asked by Hon. Millie. The Chairperson of the Committee should have independently looked at this before. One of the questions is: How were these trustees appointed? You cannot just pick some people because they are Muslims or because they come from Mombasa or some other place. Today, Islam is practised all-over the country. In my county and constituency, there are mosques. People are free to join Islam, Christianity or anything else. The mistake that we made in this particular Bill is that the Chairperson did not look at it to remove some of the things that have been raised, so that it should not be looked at as if it is actually Islamic. The idea is good, but we must have accountability in whatever we are doing. This needs to be reviewed by the Committee concerned so that when it comes here, we now talk of it as a national issue rather than looking at it as an issue that only concerns the Islamic religion. The question is - and we will raise it during the Third Reading of this Bill - if we pass this particular Commission that will handle the monies and properties that are donated, will it benefit only the Islamic community or Christians, whatever the neighbourhood? Like somebody said, within his community, there are Muslims who live with them. Will it be the same thing? This was also raised by Hon. Chris. It appears that it was a bit premature for this Bill to come to us now. You can see that by the time it will come to the Third Reading, it will be something else. They should have actually looked at it and removed some of the items that are raising issues. Even the last speaker mentioned the same thing. I am really torn between Christianity and whatever, which is not very good because the idea is good, but when it comes down to some issues that are being raised in this House, there is much more than we can answer. Therefore, I do not want to take this opportunity to say that I support or reject the Bill. I want to wait for the Third Reading before I take my position. Thank you."
}