HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 186340,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/186340/?format=api",
"text_counter": 248,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Eseli",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 141,
"legal_name": "David Eseli Simiyu",
"slug": "david-eseli"
},
"content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, thank you for giving me a chance to contribute to this very important Motion. I would like to congratulate the National Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee for a job well-done, because I believe this is a product of that Committee. This process is long overdue. The previous speakers have said that a new constitution is a promise all parties made, large or small. I am sure it was not an election tool. I am sure that we were all committed to that fact. However, we must realise that a constitution on its own is not a panacea to all our problems in this country. It is rather the laws, the Acts of Parliament and the institutions that will emanate from that Constitution that will make a difference in our country and, probably, make our lives better and end the long suffering of our people. However, given that there have been other things being put in place, where we are trying to get the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission which will serve as a catharsis to our people before we actually enact a new Constitution, let us be aware that the forces that have been against a new Constitution in this country are still alive and lurking in the wings. They can pounce at any time unless we, as Parliament, take it seriously and deliver this Constitution. The forces that are lurking in the wings are coming in on a term called experience. That is on page 1169, Section 5A. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, Section 5(a) states:- 2424 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 6, 2008 \"The bodies which will be appointing the people in this Committee should take cognisance of experience and academic qualifications of the applicants.\" That is where the forces that are arraigned against us will find a way in because they will present you with their experience in past constitution making processes. They will present you with experience on what they botched before and what they actually managed to make us lose before. That is where they will come with their experience. We need to be very careful about that. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, while I agree that we have tried to do something about that by saying that those who were Commissioners of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC) established under the expired Act might not be eligible to be appointed as the committee of experts, then we should have added that past Members of Parliament especially in the last ten years should also not be members. Some of them were forces arraigned against us in the Constitution. So, we need to be very careful about that. Then we have got various other people who we need to be very careful about. I know the civil society has done a great job for this country right from the fight for multiparty politics. Here, I wish to commend the likes of the gracious lady, Ms. Karua, the Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs and Mr. Orengo, the Minister for Lands who actually made the civil society vibrant in this country in pursuit of a new Constitution. We need to be very careful since some people have hidden under the umbrella of the civil society but their intents and purposes are not exactly for the good of this country. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, so, while I agree that we should be very careful, we should not lose sight of what we want to do. To me, there are very few things here that we need to worry about because when we talk about regional balance and religious considerations, I think let us leave some of those things. Regional balance is going to be impossible with four people being selected by the Parliamentary Select Committee. Okay, there is a worry that we might lose our soverignity when we put in three people appointed by foreigners but we hope the Panel of Eminent African Leaders hopefully will select Kenyans to join our experts. However, I think we should leave these idea of regional balance and religious considerations because we do not have the time nor do we have the space. If we have too many of them again, we might recreate the Bomas fiasco. If we create the Bomas fiasco, then we will be headed to a similar debacle that we had in the referendum of 2005. I think I would like to commend the reconciliation team and tell them to maintain focus. I urge the House to pass this Bill and as we go to Committee Stage, we can just fine tune it a bit but otherwise, it is good to go. I beg to support."
}