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{
    "id": 1561397,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1561397/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 185,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba North, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Yes. Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I also want to thank Hon. KJ for urging us to speak soberly about this issue. I wish to talk soberly about this issue. Sometimes, in leadership, you have to take the road less travelled, and on this issue, I want to take that path. Hon. Speaker, we lost many young people, and many others are traumatised as a consequence of what happened. It is a moment in our country that we all wish had never happened. I believe we have not handled this issue well, which is why people from outside are coming to document it. If, as Kenyans, we could acknowledge that things went wrong and that we need to fix them, it would not matter even if the BBC aired it. We have to fix our problems on our own. We do not have to wait for the BBC to tell us something is wrong. I have a problem with their chosen title, which is typical of media houses because they seek to create a trending narrative. Because of that, they may have given it that title. However, we have not yet dealt with some of the issues raised. We have dealt with some, but one of the issues we have not dealt with is the trauma. I said it when Hon. Elachi lost her son, we have a very angry young generation in this country, and part of this anger stems from the issues we are seeing. We cannot bury our heads in the sand. Let Parliament take the lead in finding a way to help these young people heal. We do not know what may come in the next few months or even next year, compounded by the reality that many young people are jobless and frustrated. I do not know what the intention of the BBC is. It could be to fuel more harm or not. Based on what I have heard from the youth, it has actually created more anger. We are leading them back down a path they would prefer not to walk again, and we cannot predict when someone will fuel that anger again. The media cannot be stopped. Someone else will fuel that anger again. Therefore, it is crucial for us to address this issue. Let Parliament take the mandate to deal with it. When we experienced post-election violence, I was fortunate to be in Parliament. I believe you were also here then, Hon. Speaker. What we did then was set up a Select Committee. We travelled all over this country because, as human beings, we tend to forget. Just when we thought we had moved on, I recall meeting a woman whose husband's head had been decapitated. She went to her home with her husband's head. We were dealing with people who were angry and depressed. I remember breaking down in tears while speaking in Parliament—not for myself, but for what we had witnessed. We might think we are moving forward, but many young people have not genuinely moved on. Hon. Speaker, I would appeal—not that I want to sit on that committee—that we establish a Select Committee to address this issue, which is not solely a matter of the Finance Bill but also concerns the aftermath of that Finance Bill. I humbly agree that we deal with this soberly and discourage ourselves from pursuing processes we believe may be politically correct but do not necessarily advance us as a country. Thank you, Hon. Speaker."
}