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{
    "id": 1161735,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1161735/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 72,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr) Musuruve",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13188,
        "legal_name": "Getrude Musuruve Inimah",
        "slug": "getrude-musuruve-inimah"
    },
    "content": "automatic because they will then be forced to follow the law. We are then going to preserve cultural heritage for the purpose of the coming generations. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, culture is a unifying factor everywhere. Somalis have their way of dressing and foods they love to eat. They prefer camel to cow milk. The Luos also have things they cherish and a way of doing things. They love to eat fish. Luhyas too cherish certain types of food like chicken and mrenda, which is medicinal. Food and dressing are very important things. In fact, there are some cultural foods that are exported to may be China and other places for refinement and then brought back and sold expensively. For example, mukombero is a stimulant rood that is normally chewed in Western Kenya. It is cheap and can be easily found in the forest. This root has been chewed since time immemorial. I remember my grandfather, Mr. Reuben Khaguli Isuli, would take us to the forest to uproot mukombero. As children, we loved to chew it. . As I child, I was never taken to the hospital for a headache or malaria treatment. Instead, we used barks from certain trees. Mwarubaini and aloe vera ware traditionally used to treat some ailments. It is unfortunate that, the young generation is not aware traditional food that is medicinal. Most of the time, the youngsters go for pizza and other foods that eventually cause diseases. We have forgotten that we have our own traditional foods that can help. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we cannot blame the young generation. We need to put in place policies such as the one that Sen. Kasanga is proposing here. We need policies to ensure the development of our traditional food and music. Traditionally, there was music for different occasions. There was music to celebrate the birth of a baby and dirges to express sorrow during funerals. Some dirges had a quick tempo and people would dance joyfully because someone was transiting to the other side of the world. Every stage in life had music to celebrate. It is unfortunate that the youngsters are not aware of this. For the sake of our future and ensuring that our culture lives on, we need to look for ways of ensuring we do not lose out on this rich culture that we have. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Kiswahili is a lingua franca. We need to cherish it and pass it to the next generation. There are some children who cannot speak Kiswahili. They go to high end schools all through and they find it difficult when they are fully grown and they want to learn Kiswahili. You cannot be a leader without Kiswahili. You must know Kiswahili which will help you reach out to the people you are leading. There is a lot of good heritage that we are losing. Another example is initiation to adulthood for boys. Growing up, it was a rich culture and everyone would look forward to it. After every two or three years, boys would be initiated into adulthood and it was celebrated. People would come from far and wide just to see how the young boys were dancing in masks. As a young girl, we would go to the posho mill but had to hide whenever we so the initiated coming towards us. They were not supposed to see the face of a woman or a girl around. They were pepper hot. If they met you, they could even beat you up. Women and girls were told in advance to hide. That culture was rich."
}