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"id": 124587,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Otieno",
"speaker_title": "The Minister of State for Public Service",
"speaker": null,
"content": " I rise to support this Bill and, in fact, congratulate my brother Mr. Ethuro for taking the courage to bring it to this House. It is a timely move because as of now, political expediency is in the process of destroying so many of our institutions. It is time we took steps as Parliament, to control ourselves from our own tendencies. We are right now in the process where every tribe is going to ask to have a Cabinet position. We are right now at a stage where the big tribes are going to ask for Cabinet positions in proportion to their populations or number of seats in Parliament. We have difficulty deciding on which system of Government, precisely because Members of Parliament want to be Ministers and so you cannot have a Presidential system. Kenyans want to elect their President for purposes of stability and their safeguards as communities, but then that conflict forces us to go hybrid. In the course of going hybrid, we are risking political expediency going to destroy more and more of our institutions. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have come to learn the hard way in this House that people in power tend to behave in the same way under power. Therefore, we cannot be insulated from these practices any time in future. Political expediency is such that we are making contradictory decisions in this country. Today we accept this, tomorrow we accept the opposite and the explanation is political expediency. It is time this Bill is supported. As the Mover has carefully drafted it, it should be in force come next Parliament, whether we have the new Constitution or not. I would like to congratulate the Mover, that this is very ideal. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not know how we save ourselves from these interventions. You accept that the politics of the day demands something even when you see it is going to be a very serious abuse of very cardinal principles that would lead to improper governance in a society. As we exist now as a country, we are like a ship floating without radars. You expect any decision to be made either way. We may be accused of over-legislating by supporting this Bill. However, it is a necessary over- legislation because of the recurrent abuse of privilege and discretion in the exercise of governance decisions in this country. I wholeheartedly support this Bill. The earlier it is passed the better."
}