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{
    "id": 110664,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/110664/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 354,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Bifwoli",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Lands",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 208,
        "legal_name": "Sylvester Wakoli Bifwoli",
        "slug": "wakoli-bifwoli"
    },
    "content": "I want to be very honest that Kenyans have yearned to have a new Constitution for a very long time. They have yearned for this document for more than 20 years. But that does not mean that we accept this draft blindly because we have been yearning for it. We must accept and analyze it. We must criticize it. Those who are for and those who are against the Draft Constitution must be ready to listen to each other. Those who have different ideas must compare notes. First, I want to thank the Kenyans who gave their views. I am not sure that all the views were incorporated in this document. If they were, there are certain views which we do not know where they came from. From the outset, I will support this document only with amendments. There are certain sections which I do not believe in. I do not want anybody to threaten me. At my age, I am ready to die and do anything. So, this Constitution alone will not make me fear the statement that “Kenyans want”. Who are these Kenyans? Who am I? Am I not a Kenyan? So, remove the idea that “Kenyans want”. Who are these Kenyans? If they are a million, I am one of them. I am prepared to be heard. We need to do a lot of amendments. This document is just too bulky. Is it an encyclopedia for people to read or a Constitution for us to use? A Constitution should have straight forward statements and properly constructed English sentences. But this is garbage. There is a lot of nonsense in this document. When we say we want this draft to be amended so that it is edited, we are saying so, in good faith. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if I may take you through the document you will see why I am not convinced to support it blindly. First, the document says that there shall be no State religion. At the same time, there is a contradiction that there are going to be certain religions. I want us to say that Kenya will be a multi-religious State so that Catholics or people of Dini ya Msambwa have their own courts. If we confess our faith we should be allowed to have our courts. You do not know what we Catholics do on the issue of marriage, burial and how we share our property or how the M sambwa’s do their things. With regard to culture, the document says that no man shall be forced to practice any culture. I am imagining that man is my child. That same man that you are referring to is my son. Where I come from, there is no man who has fathered a child who can be buried uncircumcised. Suppose I want to circumcise my child, so that I avoid the embarrassment of tomorrow, what will happen? If this young man dies, he will be circumcised before he is buried. I would rather circumcise him alive because any man who circumcises the dead is not allowed to circumcise the living. I am wondering how many people will volunteer to circumcise my son who feared the knife when he was alive! If you circumcise the dead, you will not be allowed to circumcise the living, who have more market than the dead. Where I come from, there are very few men who are circumcised when they are dead. We circumcise those who do not want to as long as they belong to our community. A man who is born a Bukusu, has no choice, but must be circumcised."
}