Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 111012,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/111012/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 255,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kajwang",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister of State for Immigration and Registration of Persons",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 164,
        "legal_name": "Gerald Otieno Kajwang",
        "slug": "otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am glad that you are today presiding over this debate, because you are personally intrinsically connected to it. This is because we have suffered that impunity and I know that you have suffered more than some of us. But it is a beautiful morning that you are presiding over the debate of changing the current Constitution and ushering in a new constitutional dispensation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I thank the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee and his very able deputy for yesterday’s speeches and, of course, the speeches they made at the Kenya Institute of Administration (KIA). They made them with passion and learning. I think they put a brilliant effort in driving this process forward. When I was reading law at the university, the most important question in our subject of Jurisprudence was: What is law? Law can be defined in many ways, but the definition which I concocted is that law is the command of the sovereign. I think my professors accepted that definition. If somebody is sovereign and gives a command, then that is law. You only disobey it at your own peril. Now, the beauty of this proposed Constitution is that it says that the sovereign is the people of the Republic of Kenya. If I were in a political rally this morning, I would be saying: “We are the people!” The people would be feeling good about it because they are the sovereign. Of course, if the people are the sovereign, then it is the command of the people that is law. The people of Kenya will soon vote on this Constitution and will give to this country a Constitution and law which you will now disobey at your own peril. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have many reasons why we went this long and torturous way to change this Constitution. Mine were two. The reason I was so upset with the current Constitution that made us go all this way was not because of termination of pregnancy. Definitely, it was not. If you read the notes and minutes of the Ufungamano meeting of which I was a Member, I do not remember that featuring anywhere. In fact, it was not about the Kadhi’s Court. Matiba, Jaramogi and I were in Ufungamano and I never heard a session talking about the Kadhi’s Court, because those were not the reasons we were changing the Constitution. The reasons why we were changing the Constitution were things called impunity and abuse of power. Those are the only reasons why we were changing the Constitution and that is why we are here. Let me just give you one example of abuse of power. First of all, I did not tell you that when I was sitting in the Gallery and they said the debate was over, I protested. I said, “no way!” I was thrown out through the door and went back to the polytechnic to tell my students that I had been thrown out of Parliament because I said: “No way! You cannot change the Constitution this way.” That is impunity. I will give an example of impunity. One day Messrs. Matiba, Raila and Rubia were arrested. We all went to court"
}