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{
    "id": 113912,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/113912/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 258,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Bahari",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 156,
        "legal_name": "Abdul Bahari Ali Jillo",
        "slug": "bahari-ali-jillo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, from the outset, I want to start on the issue of national cohesion. As a nation, if we are not cohesive, then we will disintegrate into pieces. I know that we have put in place a Commission to look into those issues, but it is not the Commission which is going to do the job. It is up to us, as individuals and leaders at different fora to preach the issue of national unity. But preaching alone may not be enough. As a Government, we need to move further and prove to every citizen that actually, this Government cares for them. How does this come in? This comes in as a matter of priority by way of allocation of resources. If I know that if Mr. Speaker is in the Chair, then I do not get the necessary resource in my corner of the country, and I know that it is unjustly diverted elsewhere, then I will not feel comfortable. Therefore, that cohesiveness, closeness and unity will not be there. I think this is where we need to put emphasis. Justice must be done in the first instance in terms of allocation of resources and development agenda in this country. That is when we will make the nation cohesive. What the Commission should be doing is to find and point out to the Government how to bridge disparities in income, wealth and so many other ways in this country, so that whichever corner you are, because of the institutions that you have put in place and irrespective of the leader that is going to be in State House or wherever it is, then you feel that you belong to this country. I am not saying anything new. In 1975, the late J.M. Kariuki said that when some people come from Northern Kenya, and it is in the HANSARD, they say that they are coming to Kenya. He said that they do so because the leadership then had not done anything to make the people in northern Kenya feel like they are part and parcel of this Republic. You know very well that 80 per cent of this country is arid and semi-arid. I do not need to tell anybody about the level of development of those areas. I do not need to go even to the semi-arid areas. Look at the urban setting in this country. There is Kawangware, Mathare, Dandora, Kibera and others. You do not expect national cohesion when there is so much conspicuous poverty all over. Wait in the evening and, perhaps, stop at some point and look at the number of people who move into these areas. These people need a decent living. It is only when we upgrade these slums that they will live a decent living. That is when we can talk about national cohesion. All this has not been possible due to lack of goodwill, poor planning and poor implementation of projects. I believe that once the right institutions are put in place to fight corruption, we can do these things. Corruption is a very costly exercise. For instance, a piece of land that cost Kshs30 million can now be sold at Kshs300 million. This is done when many officers are watching here. This tells us how low we have gone in the fight against corruption. That is the money which should have gone into building roads, schools and hospitals. That is why we do not have drugs in our hospitals. That is why we do not have enough teachers. We are resorting to unorthodox means to recruit teachers through internship. If we are able to fight corruption and eliminate it, everybody will be comfortable and national cohesiveness will be achieved."
}