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"id": 191475,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Musyimi",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. As you are aware, Kenya, like many other colonies, did not come together through social convergence. Rather it was bounded together through imperial conquest and governed sometimes through very violent means as a nation at that time. The issue before us through this Bill has to do with who we are and what we stand for. I have no doubt that, supremely, those questions will be answered as we discuss the Bill that deals with the Constitution. But it is very helpful to have an avenue and a channel through which these issues can enter the public realm and through which debate can be encouraged. So, I want to stand to support the Bill. But as we do so, I think the issue of unity in this country is very crucial. May be, what one is saying is this: Are there issues about which we can differ as a people and still remain Kenyans? But at the same time, the other question is equally important. Are there issues about which we cannot differ without fatally impairing our very existance and nationhood? To me, that seems to be the right question. In other words, we need a Bill that affirms our right to be Luo but the duty to be Kenyan. We want a Bill that affirms our the right to be Hindu but the duty to be Kenyan. A Bill that affirms our right to belong to a particular group but the duty to belong to this nation. So, I think it is important that we address the core values at the end of the day that must help this country; the values that will guide us. These values, I think we know, are respect for freedom and dignity of the individual, democracy, commitment to the rule of law, freedom of speech, a free press, equality of citizens under the law, tolerance and so on. We must commit ourselves to being who we are without expressing that being in a manner that infringes on the rights of the other people. That is why one supports this Bill. So, it is crucial to facilitate a process of integration that helps us to become one people as a nation. I think the issue of civic competence is crucial. We need to know and support the values that stand for this freedom and equality. We need to take seriously the instruments of socialisation that make us who we are. We should take seriously the institutions of family, education, religion, media, politics and so on. That way, we will never in future have to treat our citizens as voting zombis, but as partners in the crucial enterprise of being fellow Kenyans. Even as we seek to explain with candour the difficulties of politics, I think it is important that we govern our people fairly. As I complete, I am reminded of a quotation that appeared in the Time Magazine way back in 1996. I am talking about power and influence, it seems to me that has been abused. That is why we have this Bill rightly so on the Floor of this House. It says:- \" To hold power is to have a sure disposal blunt instrument. But without influence power dies out at the end of its channels of command. To have influence is to gain assent not just an entourage, to have imitators not just subordinates. Power gets its way, when it gets it, influence makes its way. In free societies it makes its way further\" Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we want a Bill that will help us not just have positions of power but understand the importance of influencing our people. So, I support this Bill because it will help engage in public discourse to rediscover the values that ought to govern us."
}