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{
"id": 190825,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/190825/?format=api",
"text_counter": 297,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Prof. Olweny",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Education",
"speaker": {
"id": 122,
"legal_name": "Patrick Ayiecho Olweny",
"slug": "patrick-olweny"
},
"content": "Actually you have removed your skin, what makes you superior? Is it just because a small piece of your skin has been chopped off? Someone thinks that you are inferior because you did not remove your six teeth. If anything, you have disadvantaged yourself because what someone with all his or July 3, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1655 her teeth can do with those teeth, you who is missing six teeth cannot do. You discriminate based on the removal of teeth. You discriminate on the basis of making a huge hole on your ears, then you think you are superior by just removing a piece of your body. You cannot force someone to adopt your culture just because you think your culture is better than hers or his. It is wrong! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, based on discrimination, many citizens of this country have been denied employment opportunities. They have been denied promotion opportunities. They have been denied opportunities to do business in certain parts of this country. While members of your country can do business within some communities, if others come to your region, they cannot do the same. They will be robbed and all kinds of things will be done to them. This is very unfortunate. It is also unfortunate to consider that a certain group of people do not have the capability to do certain things. Those are some of the things that have really pushed some people to the wall, and then they respond negatively. The Government itself in the allocation of resources, you find that certain parts of the country have got so little. Some other parts of the country, because their people are well placed in positions within the Government, they got nearly everything. Others are disadvantaged. A time has come when Kenya must change. A time has come when Kenyans must consider every other Kenyan a Kenyan. Even in Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), you will find that some regions which have problems which need to be addressed are left out. They shun those regions simply because of discrimination. They do not belong to the right groups. They do not belong to the right community so they are shunned. When this Bill is passed, we should move a few steps forward. Of course, the Bill still lies with Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs. Let us come up with a code of ethics. If any organisation employs or does any activity, then it must be a signatory to that code of ethics. There must be rules controlling organisations, Ministries and Departments or NGOs. We must tell this country that in this organisation, there will be no discrimination based on gender, colour, tribe or whatever. If you are registering a company or an NGO, you must sign that code of ethics. I think if we do that, some of these things that relate to discrimination will reduce substantially. We must come up with those rules and they must be part of the law. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the media is one sector which has promoted discrimination in this country way back in the colonial days, be they, vernacular, be they Swahili, be they English. We may blame some of them today. But I remember some of the print media in the late 1960s, every now and then the headline would reflect on tribal discrimination. Even the radio was the same. The media must also be brought under control in this regard. I heard the other day one of them had a problem with the Media Council of Kenya. It was accused of promoting hatred. I do not know what it said, but it was a vernacular station. We must put them under control. It was the media that brought Rwanda down. The same thing happened in Germany. If you read history books or watch some of those movies, you will know what happened in Germany during World Wars I and II. The media played a very big role in tearing those countries apart. So, our media must also be told to behave. They have their freedom, but let them help us to keep this country intact. We all need it and they also need it. If the country is in pieces, I do not think they will have a place from where they will write those newspapers, or a place where they will station their equipment for broadcasting. There is also discrimination based on names. This are very simple things. Why can we not just share names? I have some people in my province who have names borrowed from Eastern and Coast provinces. In Nyanza Province, we have different tribes and across Western Province we have a different tribe from my tribe. But we actually exchange names. Their is an Odhiambo and Omollo in Western Province. But sometimes back people thought that the late Dr. Onyonka was a Luo. So, we have discrimination based on just names. There are Japanese with names that start with \"O\". 1656 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 3, 2008 I support this Bill and say that let this be the starting point."
}