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{
"id": 1527521,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527521/?format=api",
"text_counter": 277,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "I have gone to museums in some countries, and you see barely anything, but you pay money. When you land, the taxi man, the guy at the airport, will go to great lengths to make you interested in visiting the museum. However, when you go there, there is nothing. How many of us have jetted into Kenya through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, and there is somebody to interest you to visit a park that is just within the city? How many countries have parks within the city? There is nobody. You are entering Nairobi, and there is nobody to interest you and say, \"visit a national park, which is just within the city's boundaries.\" Nobody. You go to Dubai, and the moment you land, people are queuing, trying to interest you, \"go to the desert safari,\" When you go on a desert safari, the roads are rough like ours here. You see vumbi and nothing else. We need to do a lot. I want to appeal to our Cabinet Secretary for Tourism to tap into this country's tourism potential. She could bring us a lot of foreign earnings if only she tapped the untapped potential in the tourism sector. We have soapstone in Kisii. No country in Africa has the Kisii soapstone. It is only found in Kisii, in an area called Tabaka, in South Mugirango. Even if you go to West Pokot, Kajiado, or Muranga, the stone is not there. It is only found in Kisii, in Africa, and no other country. However, many tourists come to Kenya, go to Masai Mara, and then come back to Nairobi, board a plane, and return to Europe. If we had a desk at the airport marketing that industry in Tabaka, I am sure we would get a lot of revenue. We sell those carvings. When you go to Europe, you will pay a leg and an arm. We used to do that as arts and crafts when we were young boys in school. I am happy that we are allowing the board to have a full mandate of recruiting the Managing Director for the National Museums of Kenya. However, we have a problem that is cropping up in this country. Even when you create a board like this - I was in a political function where somebody was pleading with the President to assist somebody in being appointed. As Members of Parliament, we have passed a law that says recruitment will be competitive and based on merit. You are a lawyer and know the agitation by lawyers preceding the 2010 Constitution. You know what the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Raila Amollo Odinga and President William Ruto is about. It is about fairness, inclusivity, and eradicating corruption. I feel so sad when, as legislators, we sit down, pass a beautiful piece of legislation, send it to the President, and the President signs it. This law states that as a country, Kenyans could be picked to sit on a board; we give them the power to invite applicants and interview them, and the one who merits will be appointed. However, politicians want to go back to the President to assist their person to be appointed, which is not nice. It goes contrary to the spirit of our 2010 Constitution. Right now, we are conducting interviews for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). Through a Motion on the Floor of this House, we went to the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) and spent a lot of time there - burning the midnight oil. We brought to the Floor a fantastic piece of legislation. We proposed that we appoint people to sit on the panel that will interview commissioners to IEBC because we do not want to take the country back to the situation before the 2007 elections when 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."
}