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"id": 188063,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Samoei",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Agriculture",
"speaker": {
"id": 204,
"legal_name": "William Samoei Ruto",
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"content": " Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary July 24, 2008 PARLIMENTARY DEBATES 2117 Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to second this Motion realising that this Motion came about as a result of the long deliberations that we were involved in the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation Team. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the events of the last General Election taught this country a lot of painful lessons. It has given us a chance to reflect on our past. It has become absolutely necessary to bring our past to some closure so that we can move ahead as a country. The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission is the avenue through which Kenyans from all walks of life, and with truth, justice and reconciliation being their mission, come together to express themselves in this exercise so that they can bring their past to a closure and open a new chapter for us to move a head as a country. It became clear that among the things that informed the near destruction of our country in the last General Election were issues that have been pending for a long time. There were historical injustices and prejudices that were informed by past events, deeds and actions by individuals, organizations and governments. It is necessary for us to bring that to a closure so that Kenya can exit from these prejudices and perceived or real injustices that were meted to the people of Kenya, thereby causing the mistrust that exists between our citizenry. The Bible says; \"if you know the truth, the truth will set you free\". It is important for us to get to know the truth so that, as a country, we become free. It is important for the things that have been said about people and communities be known. The truth about Government bodies, individuals and public officers must be known. The truth must be known so that we can set our country free. It is said that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. It is, therefore, important for us, as a country, to deal with injustices that have been meted upon citizens of our country whether they are perceived or real so that again we can live in a just society. After we have laid bare these issues, it, therefore, forms a basis for us to embark on the necessary journey to reconcile our country. We believe that it is important for us to go through this exercise of telling each other the truth and find out where justice is so that when we reconcile ourselves, as a country, with the mission of moving our country forward, only then can we, in a very meaningful and practical way, be able to build the Kenyan society. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is true that at the moment we have ethnic tensions in our country. We have mistrust between communities in our country. We have issues that are outstanding whether we are talking about land and historical issues that exist between Kenyans. These are the issues that breed the mistrust and the prejudices between Kenyan communities and the Kenyan people. If we want to meaningfully move forward, as a country, we must talk to each other in a framework that allows everybody to say their peace, in away that nobody is scared of saying what they know and what they believe will heal this country. Part of the failure of our attempt to have a new Constitution, in my opinion, was partly because of prejudice and mistrust among our Kenyan communities so that very innocent documents sometimes are judged not by the content but by whoever is propagating and the prejudices that come in actually defeat the very good that exists in all the documents that we occasionally try to put across. Therefore, this Commission will provide Kenya the opportunity to speak to itself about issues because for a long time we have talked at each other. This is an independent forum through which Kenyans can talk to each other without fear in an open manner with a mission to try and reconcile our country. We have many outstanding cases of impunity that need to be dealt with whether we are talking about land issues, human rights issues or historical issues. They are outstanding and form a sore spot in the life of our nation. There is not an easy way out of it. We have to provide the necessary forum and framework that is legal and constitutional, for us to be able to move ahead and sort out these sore points in our country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, part of the objectives of the TJRC shall be to promote peace, justice, national unity, healing and reconciliation among the people of Kenya. Its mission is 2118 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 24, 2008 not to divide the country or cause any more tension in the country. Its mission is to provide the platform for us to reconcile by telling each other the truth and fixing the areas that injustice has prevailed in the past. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, maybe many people will ask why we have put there a time-line of 12th December, 1963. If I refer to Clause 5(b), it says: \"Establishing as complete a picture as possible of the causes, nature and extent of the gross violations of human rights and economic rights which were committed during the period 12th December, 1963 and the 28th February, 2008 between the--- \" But it also says, \"including antecedents, circumstances, factors and context of such violations.\" So, nothing limits the TJRC from looking at issues before the date we have set of 12th December, 1963. The TJRC will be free to look at what happened before 1963, that may involve the injustices that were carried out after 1963. It was necessary because it is a tradition elsewhere, that this is how TJRCs operate. I also want to support the presence of non-Kenyans in the TJRC because TJRC is not a concept that is only limited to Kenya. It has been practised elsewhere in the world. It is, therefore, unnecessary for us to invent the wheel when we can actually borrow expertise from the international community. We have an avenue through the Panel of the Eminent African Personalities for us to access that resource which is already available in the international community, to assist our country to resolve our issues. Secondly, it is necessary for us to have other people who are not necessarily Kenyans to look at the issues that will be put before the TJRC, from a perspective that is not Kenyan. This is because when we are talking about human rights, it is not limited to Kenya. It is a universal concept. An international or non-Kenyan view point is as important as a Kenyan view point. Even if we are talking about historical injustices, a perspective that is non-Kenyan is as important as a Kenyan perspective. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I believe that, we, as a Government, did commit ourselves; that there are some steps that we will take to ensure that this country does not return to the state in which we were early this year. Amongst those steps is the setting up of this TJRC which has been pending for the last five years. We were unable to agree on the correct framework of the enactment of legislation that would provide the framework for a TJRC. Now that we are in a Coalition Government, with everybody being comfortable that nobody is going to take advantage of them or the TJRC to be used against individuals or communities, I think it is the correct turn in our history to conduct this exercise, so that we can bring the historical injustices and prejudice that has engulfed our country, including issues of land, to a closure, so that we can move ahead as a country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the selection panel is wide enough to bring on board the widest opinion possible for us to have the personnel with the necessary capacity to undertake this momentous exercise. With the Independent Review Commission investigating the post- election violence in place, this Commission is the other pledge we did make as a Coalition Government, that it will be in place. It will be followed by the Constitution Review Commission (CRC), which hopefully, will be brought to this House soon. This will enable us to be focused on putting our country back on the rails and moving it forward. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the powers of the TJRC are not in any way unique. The TJRC by the nature of its work, needs to have sufficient authority to be able to conduct this very delicate and painful exercise. Therefore, it is necessary that it has sufficient ground and scope to be able to carry out this very important exercise. It is important for the people of our country to know that this TJRC will serve their interests and that their participation is paramount for the success of this TJRC. This is because the truth and injustices are out there. Kenyans have the July 24, 2008 PARLIMENTARY DEBATES 2119 obligation and responsibility to bring it to the attention of the TJRC as soon as it is launched and Parliament passes this legislation, so that we can begin this exercise. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those many remarks, I beg to second."
}