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{
    "id": 1501886,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1501886/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 88,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 170,
        "legal_name": "Bonny Khalwale",
        "slug": "bonny-khalwale"
    },
    "content": "I would like us to start from there and reflect individually why we came to Nairobi in this august House. Reflect and remember that once upon a time Singapore was part of Malaysia. However, because of extreme levels of poverty, Singapore was kicked out of Malaysia and the leaders of Singapore at that time rose to share a vision that poverty could not be the reason why they would be condemned in Malaysia. Today, because of that shared vision, they have grown Asia's most successful economy. I, therefore, want to appeal to our colleagues, just like you fought in your primary, secondary and A level schools up to university to succeed, let us work for a vision, so that our country can come out of poverty. This requires dedication, commitment and a desire to live in the midst of success. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, why do we continue celebrating politics that speak to poverty instead of politics that speak to prosperity? It is a shame that we know what to do, but we do not do it. For example, infrastructure, as spoken to by the President, is critical. However, because of poor national decision making, the infrastructure that can spur the economy is not given priority. For example, if we must dual roads in Kenya, the first road to dual should be from Mombasa to Nairobi, followed by the road from Nairobi to Malaba border. Why? This is because the gateway into our economy is Mombasa and the exit from our economy to the biggest market to our country, Uganda, is through Malaba border. Why have we not dualled those roads? Instead, we have chosen to dual the road, very important to central province, not because of its economic significance, but because of its political significance. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we need a paradigm shift whereby we think Kenyan. I would like to call upon leaders from central province not to succumb to the pressure from a few misguided leaders who some of us do not even know where they came from and are busy trying to radicalize on tribal lines; a region so critical to this country, so that they can have an opportunity of saying “having supported him and now that we are talking about withdrawing the support, the country is failing.” That is not the way to think. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, one of the Motions that I would be most proud of in this country is the Motion that exercised the power of this Parliament to remind the President and Deputy President that they are not above law. This is the route to go. I look at young Members of Parliament from Mount Kenya region with due respect, shy and keep quiet that if they take on the so-called ‘big man’ of the region, they jeopardize themselves. It is not true. We were there in 2007. The country was mobilized against the communities of Mount Kenya, and Soita Shitanda and I refused. For all Members of Parliament (MPs) from the then Western Province, Nyanza Province and Rift Valley Province, if you were not in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), there is no way you would be elected. This is because of the lie of mobilizing the country against one community. Soita Shitanda and I stood against that and we won the elections despite that. I therefore encourage the young MPs from Mount Kenya to ignore the threats that are meant to make them fear, to embrace nationalism instead of regionalism. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}