Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 1483128,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1483128/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 292,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kilgoris, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Julius Sunkuli",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "light of the day, if the mentality of governors continue to be what it is now. This is because, first, the reading culture in Kenya has gone down. Secondly, the way things are done in the counties is such that the tangible things are more important than the software. The libraries are the important part in the preservation of knowledge. In this Bill, one of the purposes of the library services, as indicated in Clause 5(e), is promoting reading for knowledge, information and enjoyment through the simulation of public interest books. When I was growing up, we used to read textbooks, but not in the same way the students read nowadays. Nowadays, students are glued to reading set-books. For us, we had more books, thanks to one great man, William Heinemann, who set up the African Writers Series, where the African writers were deliberately promoted to write their books. That is where we got Kenyan writers like Francis Imbuga and Meja Mwangi. The pioneers were Ngugi wa Thiong’o, although the readable books by Ngugi were when he was referred to as James Ngugi. The rest of his books were in Kikuyu. Those were the days when reading was placed very high. I thank Kenyans who have started taking us back to the situation where there was writing. Most of the books they write are not creative literature but autobiographies. I have read autobiographies by Hon. Musalia Mudavadi, Hon. Adan Duale and very lately, a book by Hon. Millie Odhiambo. Hon. Members, that book is very readable, especially if you like reading cheeky literature because at some parts, she will describe to you the true meaning of ‘bottoms up’. It is a good attempt to go back to reading. This is a good idea but we should also use this library to deliberately promote our young people to write creative literature, novels and fiction. That is because that also helps them a great deal. Therefore, the work of that library will not only be to promote them, but also create a space where those things are seen and read. I look forward to a situation where I can have a library in Kilgoris. Therefore, the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF), should be coached in such a way that it can promote libraries within our constituencies. But, at the national level, we need that as a grand plan. We need good libraries in the big cities of Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru and Mombasa, so that people can go there to celebrate and take readership into account."
}