Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 1151421,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1151421/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 336,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "This law defines discrimination in various ways. One is on ethnic grounds. It makes it criminal for any public entity to have more than one-third of an ethnic community in public offices. It means that all the 47 counties are criminals who should be charged. Unless the good Senator corrects me, the offence under the Act is a fine of Kshs200,000 or imprisonment for one year or both. Therefore, the Governors will be more than happy to pay that. I do not know whether there is a specific fine that applies to an offence under that Act. Even if you say, not more than one-third should be from one ethnic group, what some clever people will do is that senior management will speak one language and then the rank and file can be from all over the country. The rank and file can be contractors, junior level employees, drivers and messengers; while the managers and those who make executive decisions will come from one area. You have seen the mess that is happening in our public universities where ethnicity should not feature. For example, the Luos feel that Rongo University is theirs. The Kalenjins think Moi University is theirs and the people from the Coast think Pwani University is theirs. There is a problem. I do not know whether we will cure it using the law or by ensuring there is proper and equitable distribution of resources across the country. There is another ground for discrimination is this Bill. I must agree with Sen. Pareno that this is not new because it is in the Act that she is proposing to replace. However, it deserves some attention. Clause 38(1) says- “Public resources shall, as far as is practicable, be distributed equitably, geographically, taking into account Kenya’s diversity, population and poverty index” Sen. Pareno has just given us the basis for revenue allocation. Next time, we will not have to fight taking into account Kenya’s diversity, population and poverty index. The speaker who seconded had a problem making population a critical factor in allocation of resources. Clause 38(2) says- “It shall be unlawful for any state or public officer, while in charge of public resources to distribute resources in an ethnically inequitable manner” Today, all the campaigns are about ‘our man’ who will bring resources back home. Everyone wants a President who will bring resources back home. Someone has defected from one coalition to the other saying that it is the other coalition that will bring things back home to their people. Our politics is messed up. If we do not fix it, this law will not fix it. It goes ahead to define circumstances under which public resources will be deemed to have been applied in a manner that is inconsistent with the Bill. Look at school infrastructure funds. I brought a Statement to this House in the last Senate. How has the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology allocated school infrastructure funds across the country? When Dr. Belio Kipsang was the Principal Secretary (PS) in charge of that fund, you could clearly see a pattern of allocation of those funds. Right now, the PS is a"
}