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{
    "id": 1519190,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1519190/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 399,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "I listen to many people ignorantly speak about the conflict in the DRC and matters on the global stage with very little, limited and scant information about the position of Kenya on such matters and how it may have affected voting. When I was moving this Motion in the morning, I said that it would be completely ignorant of anyone to draw a deduction of this campaign run by the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga based on speculations about who may have voted for us or not for the very simple reason that this was voting by secret ballot. By the time you are coming here to tell us that it was because of DRC, I do not know because of SARAWI, we did not get votes. Where did you know that these countries voted for us or they did not vote for us? Twenty-two countries stood firm with Kenya and our candidate for all the six rounds. There has been no scientific way of establishing which are those countries. You sometimes get mesmerized by the ignorance and the seriousness with which people posted those arguments before the House, thinking that there is some revelation that they got overnight on whom they have cast their vote in support of us or otherwise. Even if it was a trial on our stand on diplomatic issues, I explained here in the morning. The first person to raise that argument was Sen. Onyonka. The record bears me witness. Every time I challenged him, whether it was on the issue of DRC or the war in Gaza, he said let us keep that matter aside. This is because I demonstrated to him that the positions they have been arguing on television and here in Parliament are nothing, but displays of pure ignorance. Our stand, all things are known. So, I do not know why people want to reduce it to an evaluation of the performance of the President on the international stage. I do not think there has ever been a President who has profiled Kenya on the international stage the way President William Ruto has done it. Travel with him to international meetings and you will appreciate what a good job he has done. There is a lot of interest in this country. That is why I asked the other day and somebody told me, Senator, we do not understand your country anymore. Reading online, reading newspapers and listening to some of the Senators, like the ones that were speaking here, Sen. Sifuna, and the like, you would think that there is nothing going on in this country yet investors, people who keep a keen and have an objective eye on the progress that is being made in Kenya, are advising people that if there is a country to keep an eye on in the African continent, it is Kenya. Not once, twice or thrice have I seen articles by people who objectively analyze the performance of countries and the things that are being done. Both locally and the positioning that has been done of this country at the international stage, appreciate that there is progress being made. Two years ago, we were at a debt distress level. We were basically on the verge staring at a total economic collapse. The President has been able to move the country from that particular stage up to a point now where we are stable. We are now going to the market where even global ranking institutions are beginning to paint a positive outlook of our economy. It is a pity that you find people here saying, “Ooh, this and that is not right.” It was a mistake. I want to fault the office of the Speaker because in our Standing Orders, you cannot discuss the conduct of a friendly head of state without a substantive 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."
}