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"id": 180629,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/180629/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Mwiria",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology",
"speaker": {
"id": 190,
"legal_name": "Valerian Kilemi Mwiria",
"slug": "kilemi-mwiria"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me an opportunity to support this very important Motion by hon. Ethuro. This is a matter that has been spoken about in the last few parliaments and it is very unfortunate that during the last Parliament, because of partisan type of politics which were organised around certain political parties, which also happened to be ethnic, we were not able to deal with a lot of important matters that would have been for the interest of us as Parliament but the people of Kenya as a whole. So, we lost the opportunity to make a lot of important changes because of the way we thought of ourselves and cocooned ourselves in our tribal political organisations. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the US, they already know when they are going to have the next elections for the President but they also know when their parliament is going to be opened. For us, the problem has been that we have personalised a lot of these decisions. It is a question of not being transparent and not wanting to say the truth about the way we want to do our business so that it goes to a point where even the President would set the date of elections or say: \"when I am going to prologue Parliament, is going to be my secret weapon\". President Moi said that all the time and it was his way of not being very open with the Kenyan people and potential Members of Parliament in terms of giving us that opportunity to decide our trade as parliamentarians and Kenyans. So, when you do not have that transparency, it means that there are certain issues that you want to cover up in terms of wanting to prepare to rig. Covering up in terms of not allowing for enough time for preparation of elections so that even the ECK is not ready. We may blame them but also, sometimes, they were given no opportunity by the powers that be. They did not have the authority to decide when the elections would take place because they never knew themselves when they would announce when we would have to go to the polls. That is why there were many challenges in court. We have heard several times when people had to go to court to challenge situations that had been made regarding even the date for elections and the reconvening of Parliament. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the point has been made that a lot of this has got to do with the structures. That we have to have structures in place so that it is never about individuals and people belonging to certain political parties but it is about structures being in place that govern the way that we make important political decisions. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in this regard, therefore, we also need to see ourselves as depersonalising. You know, making it not a personal matter to decide when we open parliament, when we decide to announce the date that we have to go to the polls and it should not be a matter of the ethnic group or the political party that the person in power belongs to because they then have to make decisions in favour of everybody else but not their opponents. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we make those changes, we also need to make changes that will make it possible for us to have other relevant dates. For example, already the Americans know when Barrack Obama is going to be sworn in. He is not going to be sworn in just tomorrow or the day after or in some place after some very thick arrangements. The date is known and we again have experienced this several times of our previous government where it is like a guarded secret when and where the President is going to be sworn in. That creates a lot of problems and I think from our own experience of the last few governments, we could have avoided a lot of trouble if there was a lean time between the day elections are announced and the time that we have 3286 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 5, 2008 to swear in the President because you will give room for many questions to be answered that are relevant and for people to take necessary action in preparation for that day but more importantly for those that want to seek redress to know that they can indeed, challenge any outcomes. That, we do not give ourselves--- The point I am making is that we are not talking about the calendar of Parliament but be seen in the context of other structures that relate to our Parliament. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the point also has been made about the fact that it will not be enough to have a calendar for our Parliament if we do not make necessary changes with regard to the structures that support Parliament including the ECK. There is also the point that was made by hon. Wamalwa about constituencies boundaries and key decisions of the Judiciary and for us to have faith in it but more importantly for ourselves as parliamentarians to change with the times. That is to change our attitude because it does not matter how many reforms we come up with if we do not accept those reforms and be part of the biggest advocates of those kinds of reforms, whether or not they favour us. So, there are many questions also about our not being partisan with regard to the political parties that we support and the positions that we take because they are ethnic. We have to support certain positions even in this Parliament because we stand to gain either directly or indirectly from those kinds of arrangements. If we do not want to be honest ourselves as Members of Parliament and do not forget that there are certain people that we have to owe allegiance to and even the structures that we represent, then it is going to be very difficult for us to even get to support some of these changes. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to take this opportunity to also congratulate Barrack Obama on his victory and also say that even as we look at that victory say it is possible, it is only possible because there are structures in place in the US that make it possible for any potential candidate to win, irrespective of whether they have a lot of money which they have gotten legally or illegally, they are from a different ethnic group and how old they are. It is very difficult to a be a President in this country if you are below 50 years of age. It is because there are structures in place in the US that make it possible for you to come out from nowhere as long as you are good and be President. There are factors that have a lot to do more with merit that make it possible for that kind of person to become President of the most powerful country in the world. We should also begin to ask ourselves questions about what kind of changes we need to make in addition to controlling the parliamentary calendar that will make it possible for persons in this country to rise to the office of the President or be able to be a Member of Parliament not because they have stolen so much by way of public property or because they are able to cheat their way through but because there is something that is valuable about them. It is not going to be possible just because we have structures. People and Members of Parliament must be prepared to look at merits and support them. They also need to contribute towards supporting that candidate. It was possible for Senator Obama, not because he had so much money of his own, but, because ordinary people and young unemployed youths, contributed to that campaign. Is it possible, in this country, for a person to be a Member of Parliament if he or she does not have a great deal of wealth? It is not easy! Unless there is a way. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we must get out of that tradition where we vote for a person just because they come from a political party that is supported by our tribal kings and that is the party we have to go through. We have to come out of that and select people on the basis of merit and support them. That would be the basis for the many of the changes we would like to see both in this Parliament, Government and other institutions outside of politics, including education, agriculture and so on. Until we begin to respect merit as the basis for our identifying future leaders, it is going to be very impossible. It does not matter what kind of structures we have in place for an Obama to come out of the Kenyan environment. I beg to support. November 5, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3287"
}