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{
"id": 1519605,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1519605/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
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"speaker": {
"id": 407,
"legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
"slug": "ledama-olekina"
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the now current Chair of the AU is talking of “They came with all these, but we came with God” instead of advancing together as one since the elections are over. What would one conclude? In my conclusion, our differences in terms of cultural upbringing will never help us to see as that as diversity but will always sow differences among us. In this world, there are people who give advice differently. Some will tell you that if a certain finger is longer than their index finger, then it means they are rich. They will always believe that without understanding that as a mere body structure. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when it comes to our foreign policy, we focus on how to ease trade among our African countries. I want us to see how we can utilise the Nile. The source of the Nile is in East Africa. It is the only river that goes up, that East Africa does not control. How can you not control the source of your river? It is controlled in Egypt. Ethiopia and Egypt fight over it, but the source of it is in Uganda and Kenya. So, really, it is time for us now to start asking ourselves how are we going to benefit from our own resources. We cannot be slaves of our own resources. We now have to sit down and ask ourselves, now that we failed in making sure that we have Raila Amollo Odinga as a chairperson of the African Union Commission, why do we not rethink and bring it back home and say we have the East African Community? Can we set up an East African Commission that will look at our policy, politics, economic affairs, social affairs and try to figure out how we create this shock absorber? Today, when you hear a president taking a position--- I think those wise men who set up the African Union Commission and put up a chairperson were very wise because they did not want the president taking a particular position. They said, let us seek advice from an expert. That is why they sat up. I think we need to start changing also looking at home, close to home, the East African Community. It will be important, that in the East African Community we achieve the goal of Julius Kambarage Nyerere, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and that of Milton Obote. These are distinguished men who came before us. They are the ones who said, as a community, let us live together. If today you spend time with the President of Uganda, the only thing he will talk about is the ideas of Julius Nyerere, the ideas of Milton Obote, the ideas of Jomo Kenyatta. Let us now bring this debate back home. Let us stop whining and saying, we lost because of this and that. Let us build our East African Community. Let us set up a commission here that will guide us. We need to end poverty in Kenya. It is wrong, for us as politicians, that every day you wake up--- If you wake up in the morning, like 3.00a.m and you just want to pray and you accidentally take your phone to remind you on the subject that you wanted to pray about, the first text message that comes is ‘ Mheshimiwa, my mother is very sick, I need X amount of money’. I long for the time when in Kenya no one will ever pick up a phone and send to a politician a message to say please help pay for my medical bill because our healthcare will work, because our road infrastructure will work and our education system will work. That is where we should put all our effort in. I believe that when we come together, President William Ruto, Raila Amollo Odinga working together, this Senate and the"
}