Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 1483193,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1483193/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 357,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Ainabkoi, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Samuel Chepkong’a",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "and Museum. Every President of the United States of America (USA), I am told, has a library. So, what we are seeking to do is to also borrow from the first world where they have very good libraries. In Georgia, you will find the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. In Illinois, you will find the Barrack Obama Presidential Library and I found those libraries to be very interesting. It also has the list of vehicles that were last used by that President. They are taken to that library. When we went to Arkansas, I know some people call it “aa-kan-sas”. It is not called “aa-kan-sas”. It is called “aa-khun-saw”. In fact, they passed a law on the pronunciation of Arkansas. If you say “aa-kan-sas”, they tell you: “No! That is wrong. It is pronounced aa-khun-saw.” Do not think I am pretending to be speaking like an American. It is just that there is a law which was passed on the pronunciation of that particular State. I found that the armoured vehicle that was used by Bill Clinton when he was the President of USA is in the William J. Clinton Library and Museum. When American Presidents leave office, they do so with their vehicles and take them to their libraries. They become part of their libraries. There are very important functions that take place in libraries, and I want to encourage Presidents who retire in this country. We want to see the Uhuru Kenyatta Library, the Mwai Kibaki Library and the Daniel Moi Library. Do not start foundations. Foundations do not help anything. You are just reproducing our National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF). We already have institutions that help in terms of giving bursaries to the less fortunate in the society. We want something that is distinctive, something that distinguishes you from all other persons so that we know you have written a book and it is available in, for example, the Daniel arap Moi Library, when we go to do our research. That way, we will know that we are advancing as a country. By just having foundations, when you die, those foundations also collapse. For example, the Moi Foundation no longer exists. Although it exists by name, it has become horrible. If it were a library, we would talk about the Daniel arap Moi Library. I support this Bill because it provides for an enabling framework within which people can come up with libraries, and they can be regulated. You can borrow from the best libraries across the world, study them like we do study tours. When we come here for the first time as Members of Parliament, we go on learning tours. Those are the things we need to learn from. I like that this Bill contains in the Third Schedule, the Kenya Library Association guidelines. These are very important guidelines that will be developed as a result of the passage of this Bill. The Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs will be very keen to look at these guidelines and how they are going to fit into the statute that has been passed, so that we are be able to operationalise this particular legislation. All those regulatory-making bodies should not make regulations or give guidelines that have not been brought to this House. For instance, today, we were complaining about the Kenya Roads Board (KRB) and Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA), who came up with guidelines and rules which, under the Statutory Instruments Act, ought to have been brought to this House. In fact, people are struggling and saying that we should not take that money to a certain account. The question of budgeting is contained in Article 95 of the Constitution. Even courts have no business purporting to say that money will move from the national Government to the county governments. They cannot take our role. The only institution which is mandated under the Constitution to budget is this House. I am very happy that there is going to be a budget line for that library so that it can be well-equipped for purposes of research. I support and thank you for giving me the opportunity."
}