Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 1243003,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1243003/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 144,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "These are two important Petitions that have been brought before the House. First, it is the Petition by Sen. Mariam Omar on behalf of Mihango residents. I know Mihango well because I grew up not very far from there. Perhaps, as I young child, I played football close to where Sen. Mariam Omar talked about. To be in this House this afternoon would be gross abuse of the premium position or privilege that I have as a Member of Parliament (MP), to just rant and say that this is wrong. It should not have happened and expect that things remain the same. Everyone who is in this House this afternoon knows that on more than one occasion, we have considered Petitions by citizens that have been evicted from various properties on countless times. We keep on sharing our rage then go and wash our hands, eat mandazi and go home. That is not what we are paid to do as MPs. It will be great dereliction of duty if the committee responsible goes to visit, listens to the cries of the residents and just come back with a report which is left out to gather dust in this House. I propose that the committee goes beyond the call of duty to not only just establish the truth by the residents, but recommend action against KPC. If KPC will be found to be at fault, first of all, they should impose a fine. We have that responsibility and it is possible. We can give such directions and propose that the citizens be compensated. Over and above, the most important thing is to come up with legislation on how to carry out evictions in this country. We should go beyond just the collective rage as a House every other afternoon saying something was not done in a proper way. We can come up with a legislation that says even where there arises a dispute in a land between two parties, there should be a procedure that the police are supposed to follow, so that every other time, we do not hear stories that we keep on hearing that in the dead of the night, people showed up in trucks. We need to bury that practice in this Session of Parliament. The committee that will be tasked with handling this Petition should do as great justice. They will cover us with dignity as a House if they come back to us with a legislative proposal on evictions of members of the public on any disputed property, so that we put it to an end. This does not require much thought, but lay out a procedure. I do not know which statute or law they are likely to amend. It could be the Public Order Act or any other law, but at least let them guide the country."
}