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{
    "id": 1151417,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1151417/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 332,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "I want to compare those objectives with the job description of the President that is in the Constitution. Article 131 of the Constitution lays out what the President is obliged to do. Remember these functions cannot be changed by Parliament; it is only by Kenyans through a referendum. The President is the symbol of national unity. The duty of the President is to promote and enhance national unity. The President shall promote respect for diversity on ethnic and racial grounds. Those three points stick out in the job description of the President. In fact, we are moving away from a President whose job is to ensure that budgets are implemented and roads are built. The job description of the President in our current Constitution is heavy on national unity. Article 132 goes further and mandates the President to report to Parliament annually, on the measures taken on realisation of national values and principles. I thank President Uhuru because he has done it faithfully. He has come to Parliament every year and made the Address. Sometimes he comes and we harass him. Despite that, he has not stopped delivering his Address and coming back the next day. My question is: with such a clear job description for the President as the symbol and promoter of national unity, do we need the National Cohesion and Peace Building Commission? If I were the President, I would make sure that the duty of national unity – uniting Kenyans, promoting that sense of nationhood and ‘ Kenyanness’ – is a function that resides in the Office of the President and not a Commission. This is because NCIC does not come back to report to Parliament. It is the President that is obliged to come back to Parliament and report on the realisation of national values and principles. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we must reflect on the circumstances that led to the establishment of NCIC. It was as a result of a negotiated consensus when Kenyans were killing each other. The issues that the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) was dealing with then, should we still segregate them and leave the Commission to deal with or they should be enmeshed in the DNA of every state officer? I believe that time has come for us to have a candid conversation and ask ourselves whether this should be a stand-alone responsibility or of everyone holding a state, public or private office in this Republic."
}