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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to also support this very important Motion. I want to join my colleagues in thanking the Almighty God for being good to this country because the mood that prevails in the country today is the exact reverse of the mood that prevailed when the Members of Parliament were sworn in at the beginning of this year. It also means that the leaders of this country are beginning to put Kenya first and personal interests second. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the failure of the leadership that we have had in Kenya is what has brought this country almost to its knees. I fear that the same failure might engulf us as we begin to reconstruct this country through a new constitutional dispensation. Today in this country, we have a Government and if this reform process that we are proud of is beginning finally to take shape, if it is going to fail, the only reason for that will be because of the leadership of the Government. It will not be because of Parliament or the people of Kenya. The Government that we have today is a Government that requires to put its house in order. We need a Cabinet that speaks with one voice and thinks about Kenya. We need a more disciplined Cabinet. The one we have now, I am afraid to say, is likely to derail the peace process because they 4194 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES December 17, 2008 all speak in different tongues. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am proud that finally, given the construction of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Review of the Constitution, we shall have a new Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) that will replace the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) and we will have a new commission that will look at the boundaries of this country. The country called Kenya is not only about people. The country called Kenya is not about population. The country called Kenya is about land mass and that is why I am very particular with this commission that will be going around the country in order to determine the number of more constituencies that we will have in order to provide sufficient representation to the Kenyan people. There is a mindset that is coming into being and that is why I am glad that the Bill we passed established nine commissioners. We must be very careful how we select them. We must find that these commissioners represent the face of this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is no use of establishing a commission that is very narrow in its thinking or that thinks that Kenya is only about the population and forgets that this country is about landmass. That, if one inch of this country is encroached by a neighbouring country, then we now all go back to a constitutional provision and say that the territorial integrity of this country has been violated. However, when we are talking about representation we do not give sufficient attention to the Kenyans who live in those parts of the country who require services. As we reconstruct the country, let us hope that this commission, of course, with the support of Parliament, will determine more constituencies based on landmass and not on population. This is the most frustrating thing that those of us who happen to come from regions where it is said that we represent 3,000 to 10,000 people. We represent the Kenyan land mass. The Kenyan land mass is not about a population but it is about the geography of this country. As you say one man one vote, we must say one kilometre one vote, so that as we determine the number of votes, we base it on the kilometres and miles we have in the country and not in the figures that we have. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, therefore, this commission must be careful to unite this country based on the size that we have so that we get people represented here from every single part of this country in a manner that is compatible with the aspirations of the people. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish the Minister for Foreign Affairs was here to listen to me talk on the issue of Somalia. There can be no way we can have peace in this country if Somalia is in the state in which it is. Our economy is suffering and the communities that live on the border neighbouring Somalia are always in a state of fear. Therefore, we need a comprehensive road-map from the Government of Kenya to address this matter."
}