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{
    "id": 1520638,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1520638/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 232,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Samburu East, KANU",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Jackson Lekumontare",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I also want to support this Bill. This is an important but complicated Bill. Culture is diverse in our country. Culture is a way of life. Every community in Africa has its culture. What we should focus on in this Bill is the protection of those cultures and their artefacts. For example, the Maasai culture is totally different from any other community’s culture. What is good in one community might be totally different in another. Culture has been there from time immemorial. We are not trying to create it. Yes, culture is good but many Kenyans and Africans have shifted from what we now call ‘culture.’ Our children do not know those things. They may not know how to greet someone in their language. This is a good Bill but it is important for us to focus on the protection of material things that belong to our cultural groups. We should look at that important aspect. I visited a certain country sometime last year. I saw in an hotel lounge a photograph of a Maasai Moran displayed there to, perhaps, attract people. Those are the things that we need to protect through this Bill. When it comes to implementation, let us consider something as our mode of dressing. I remember some time back, Sen. Ledama ole Kina dressed as a Maasai elder, but Parliament had a problem with it. The Speaker fought hard to chase him out of the Chamber, but Sen. Ledama insisted that he was dressed in the right way. Hon. Temporary Speaker, it is good to consider these matters even though the implementors of our suggestions may not fully believe in those cultures. It is very important to recognise that our cultures are full of good values. I totally agree with Hon. Members that there are also some very bad practices in our cultures. I believe there are laws that are enacted to manage such aspects. What remains is to focus because we cannot talk of a Kenyan culture. Kenyans behave differently. The Kenyan culture is different from the cultures of our communities because we have copied aspects of the white man’s culture. This is a good Bill, but it does not fully capture what we are discussing about culture. Let us focus on how to protect our artefacts and how to go about the very important things in our various cultures. We need to polish what may not be okay because culture is a person’s identity. For example, when I walk in town, anyone meeting me greets me, soba. Even if they do not know me personally, they recognise me as a Maasai. That is very important. Some people walk around and no one recognises the community they come from. I have an identity The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}