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{
    "id": 1520548,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1520548/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 142,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Emurua Dikirr, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Johana Kipyegon",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "told me that a cultured person is uncivilised to the extent it was believed that following your culture was primitive and backward. With time, we realised that the colonial governments brought their culture to Africa. There is no difference between biblical writings and what our people used to believe in. It is only that ours was not in written form. We used to pray to the same God. We believed in the same God, only that the names were different. The God we believed in is the same one that the Bible teaches. Our culture, in terms of prayer, behaviour, and male circumcision were thrown out because somebody else wanted us to adopt their culture and forget ours. Culture defines who we are. It is our background. It is something that we must live with. We must find ways of promoting our culture so that it can be handed down from generation to generation. Culture is the heartbeat of humanity. Almost everybody was brought up in a certain culture. Even those who were brought up in Nairobi would go back to their culture and be taught about how their people used to behave, and the kind of clothing they wore. I support the Bill because it touches on how to protect our cultural artefacts, national identity, and how to preserve our culture. Artefacts are tools which were used by our people. Each group and community had its own artefacts. They ranged from clothing to the artefacts they used when they were going to pray, to pacify their enemies, to appease their gods, or to give blessings. They also included artefacts that were used during traditional circumcisions, or when elders were having their drinks, unlike the current kind of drinking. Those cultural artefacts must be protected by all means. At the beginning of the late President Kibaki’s first term in 2003 or 2004, I remember that the Kalenjin community had lost a very great warrior, overseer, and Chief Orkoiyot called Koitalel Samoei. They petitioned the Government to ensure that the colonial government returned the artefacts which had been looted and taken to their country. The late President Kibaki helped that community to bring back their artefacts. However, they did not surrender the skull of the Orkoiyot. Those artefacts hold great meaning to the communities where the Orkoiyot came from. That is why the colonial government needed to bring back those artefacts. Many of our communities’ artefacts were confiscated by the Europeans, like the three-legged stools, which were used for prayers and blessings. Others remained and are still in our homes. The Bill will protect against the misuse, looting, and stealing of artefacts that were used for our traditional ceremonies. Culture also touches on clothing. Every community in this country has its own traditional clothing. I hope that this House will one day introduce a cultural day for Members. We all come from various backgrounds and communities. We can decide on a cultural day where every Member of this House will put on their cultural clothing the way our communities used to dress in the past. We all have cultural dresses which fit us so well and are so good. You will be shocked to see how beautiful our ladies look like in those clothes. You can also imagine how handsome the men will look when they put on those clothes, which are different from what we wear in Parliament. When we put on…"
}