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{
"id": 190812,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/190812/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Mungatana",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Medical Services",
"speaker": {
"id": 185,
"legal_name": "Danson Buya Mungatana",
"slug": "danson-mungatana"
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"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to also make my views known on this Bill. First, may I congratulate the Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Justice Affairs for bringing this Bill to the House. It is a good job she has done. As I have always said, for every good job, there is always space to improve it. I also want to pay tribute to Mr. Abdikadir for his appropriate submissions that he has made, which will help us to understand further what we need to do to make this proposed law better. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when dealing with the question of ethnic and race relations, there seem to be two approaches that have been adopted over the years. I will be arguing that the second approach is more efficacious than the first approach. The first approach is the one we are using here, where we are setting up an ethnic and race relations commission straightaway without legislation that creates sanctions for offences that are created under the race relations Act. The second model is where you create real offences, where someone who feels that he has been discriminated against on the basis of his ethnicity, or his race, is able to go to a competent tribunal, make representations and get proper compensation or an award, where necessary. With regard to the first approach of setting up a commission, like we are doing today, this finds an example in the Republic of Guyana. In Guyana, just like Kenya, on 17th January, 1998, the Ethnic Relations Commission was formed. It was formed out of an agreement known as the Hardmanstone Accord, which was signed on 17th January, 1998 between Mrs. Janet Jagart of the People's Progressive Party, and Mr. Hew Desmond Hoit of the People's National Congress Party. This arose out of a problem that gripped the nation of Guyana, which had general and regional elections in 1997. In the December of that year, the country was plunged into chaos, after the elections. The two main political parties then decided, in order to solve the problem that was there, they needed to sign a peace accord. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, just to make people understand better, the Republic of Guyana is made up of Africans, ethnic Asian community and Europeans, who were the colonisers. When the European colonisers left, we then had the two major groups; namely, the Africans and the Asians. The question then was how to fill in the power vacuum. It had been a struggle. So, for them, as I was saying, the first method was not effective. They set up a commission, which was established through the president. First, there was a constitutional amendment and then the president assented to the commission on 11th August, 2000. That commission is almost word for word what is being sought under the National Ethnic and Race Relations Commission Bill. The objectives that have been set out reflect very much the proposed Clause 13 of this Bill, where they talk of promotion of elimination of all forms of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, promoting understanding, tolerance and acceptance of diversity, and all these beautiful ideals in the July 3, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1643 Bill. I would want to invite this House, even as hon. Members will study it and make recommendations on it, to look at the experience of the Republic of Guyana. Was the commission really effective? Since the year 2000 - we are now talking about 2008 - that commission was, in fact, grounded in the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana. Was it effective? What were the results? Has it achieved the racial harmonisation objective for the people of the Republic of Guyana?"
}