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"id": 1527464,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Wambua",
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"content": "I stand in support the Heritage and Museums Bill (Senate Bills No.8 of 2023) ably moved by the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare, Sen. Murgor. Initially, I had my own reservations about the Bill, but I have consulted the Secretariat and have been properly guided, that in fact what a part of this Bill seeks to do is to repeal the existing National Museums and Heritage Act of 2006. I was wondering whether this Bill seeks to establish another national museum, yet and all my life I have always known that we have had one national museum. In fact, it will be remembered that my predecessor, the former Senator of Kitui County, Hon. David Musila, has been serving as the Chairman of the National Museum of Kenya. When I saw this, I wondered what position he was serving in. However, I am properly guided. The Bill also seeks to repeal the National Museums and Heritage Act established in 2006, and for a good reason. The move to repeal the Act could not have come at a better time. If you ask me, it is long overdue. When this Act was passed in 2006, we were operating under a different constitutional dispensation. After the promulgation of the new Constitution in 2010, the allocation of museums and historical monuments of national importance were given to the national Government in Part One of the Fourth Schedule. It is a national government function. However, we also know that there is a lot of work to be done in counties. There was a need to create that synergy between the management of museums at the national level and the operationalization of works at county levels. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am impressed by the provisions of Part 2 of the Bill. I think for the first time, and in a very nice way it makes every citizen a trustee of our national heritage. If and when this Bill becomes law, it will be the responsibility of every citizen of this country to act responsibly in the preservation and protection of our heritage. That has been captured well in the Bill and I support it. We should not wait for other people sitting in offices to protect our heritage but it is now incumbent upon every Kenyan to act responsibly and ensure that we protect our heritage for the benefit of this current and future generation. Part 3 of the Bill assigns roles and responsibilities to the two levels of government. I am happy with the roles assigned to county governments. Where we all come from our counties, we have monuments and indigenous cultures that are at a threat of becoming extinct. Why? As things stand now, it is the responsibility of the national Government to make sure that these indigenous cultures, heritages, and monuments in our respective counties are preserved and taken care of. Now with the passage of this Bill, the responsibility is taken where it belongs. That means that our county governments will also now have to even pass budgets to support their own Indigenous cultures, their monuments, and their artefacts. This is a move in the right direction to ensure that even when it comes to the promotion of our diversity, counties that share almost similar or even complementing heritages, then they can come up with consortiums to even establish circuits for tourism crisscrossing counties. While speaking about the establishment of those circuits for purposes of tourism attractions, yours truly is in the process of bringing to the Floor of this House a Bill that 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."
}