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"id": 191781,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/191781/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Maj-Sugow",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister, Ministry of State for Public Service",
"speaker": {
"id": 142,
"legal_name": "Aden Ahmed Sugow",
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"content": " Thank you very much, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I rise to support this Bill. Before I do so, I feel that although the Minister indicated the reason for the delay, this Bill should have come the same time as the National Accord and Reconciliation Bill. I believe that our attitudes would have been different than they are now if these Bills were brought together. The fate of the common man who is always incited against each other would have been decided before we decide how to distribute political positions amongst ourselves, the politicians. But now we are okay. Most of us have positions and, therefore, there is no much interest in trying to find out a solution to the fate of the common man, so that Kenyans can live together amicably. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the title of this Bill is: The National Ethnic and Race Relations Commission Bill. For me the problem is not ethnic relations between different ethnic communities in this country. All along from colonial times, there has been a problem between the State and the different communities in this country. It is the State that is the greatest discriminator against any community in this country. For me, it should actually have been \"the National State and Race Relations Commission Bill.\" That is what actually it should have read. Most successive governments have continued to govern this country along the lines of the colonial masters. They ruled this country on a divide and rule basis. Most of our provinces were designed along ethnic lines. We maintained the same. All the Governments that came to power 1518 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 1, 2008 perpetuated the same divide and rule method. Today, the situation, as far as governing this country is concerned, is such that a person from a minority community such as the El Molo or Somali will never hope to rule this country. If I cannot rule this country, do you expect me to get resources? Things are skewed in such a way that you have to be in power to get resources in this country. That is what is bringing ethnic tension. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I actually agree with my colleague who spoke before me that we need laws that will determine the distribution of resources in this country because that is the major issue. However, that does not mean that we reject this Bill. We can still have that Commission set up. We can still have the Commission's recommendations implemented to ensure that we get resources distributed. This is because every Government that has come to power has been unable to get us out of this quagmire. Let me give a very good example: Since the NARC Government came to power in 2002, our President had promised to give some sort of affirmative action to hitherto marginalised areas in this country. His policy pronouncements were never put into implementable programmes in the Budget. They remained political pronouncements in this House. The Ministry of Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands was established recently. Its budget allocation is Kshs400 million. This is far much less than what we feel the public may have lost through the sale of Grand Regency Hotel. Therefore, this Bill is very important, but the mandate of the Commission should be such that it addresses the underlying problem of ethnic tension which is perpetuated by the State. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, every Kenyan sees the community that controls State House as the one that takes the resources. The practical situation appears so since Independence. The best some of the marginal areas got in the decades we have passed through since Independence, are promises. These promises actually started in the last term and continued to the present term, but that is just it; promises! How does an ethnic community that lives in the marginalised areas feel? Do people of that community feel that they are part of Kenya? Will they feel so? What is their attitude towards the community that is perceived to be in charge of the State? It is that perpetuation of discrimination by the State that is bringing all these problems. Therefore, let us not blame ethnic communities in this country. We must determine what we actually need in order to address the inequalities created over the decades since the colonial times. We just continued that practice after Independence. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to see a situation where an El Molo or a Turkana can run for the presidency of this country and have the confidence to win. They should be able to get votes from Central Province, North Eastern Province, Coast Province and elsewhere in the country. Under the current situation, that dream is not there. Unless the community whose man occupies State House sees fairness in the distribution of resources, the culture of struggling to ensure that a community's member gets to State House will never end. The competition to go to State House so that we can get resources will never end unless we address the question of distribution of resources. Therefore, that is the gist of the matter. We must give this Commission powers to investigate and come up with recommendations. They should get views from all over the country and address the underlying problems. It is not about ethnic relations, rather it is about how we run the State. It is about the relationship between the State and communities. How should the State conduct itself in this country? Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I generally agree with the establishment of the Commission. I agree with the constitution or membership of the Commission. However, I would like to add that the eight members that are appointed through the House, be indicated to come from the eight provinces without necessarily undermining the qualifications needed. We can still get the July 1, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1519 same from every province. We must state that in the Bill. We must not leave it open. It is very critical that this Commission is independent. In fact, I would have, probably, recommended that it becomes a total creature of the National Assembly without the involvement of the State. That is what I would recommend. This is because if we feel that, probably, it is the State that is in a way the culprit, we cannot give the State a great role in establishing the Commission. With regard to remuneration, it should not be determined by the Minister in consultation with Treasury as it is stated in the Bill. The Commission should be independent and its remuneration should be determined by an independent body and should come directly from the Exchequer. That should be provided for. The remuneration should not be determined by the Minister and Treasury. This matter should not be at their behest. We want the Commission to be independent. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, with regard to powers to prosecute, this does not arise in the first place. What we need to address is the inequalities in resource distribution. If we address that, Kenyans will live amicably. We will not have any antagonism between communities of this nation and, therefore, the question of prosecution will not even arise. The other thing is the implementation of reports by commissions. This country has a history of letting reports gather cobwebs somewhere on Government shelves. There is no need for this House to continue to allow the use of public resources to form commissions whose reports are never implemented. Therefore, when that Commission will be established and the report produced thereof based on its terms of reference, implementation must take place. Kenyans are yearning for peace and togetherness. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, ethnicity in this country is a disease, just like corruption. Unless we change our society from the grassroots level; unless we develop curricula to promote nationalism and ethics in our foundation in the community, we will never defeat those two monsters - ethnicity and corruption. We must, therefore, look at our education system. We must inculcate nationalism at that level. We must inculcate ethics and responsibility in our young generation at that lower level. We, up here, are corrupted already - ethnically and ethically. There is very little we can do! We need to save the lower generation. I urge my colleagues not to simply dismiss this Bill. We can adjust it to suit the situation, but we should not just dismiss it. Kenyans need action! The suggestions that we are making should be ploughed into this Bill through amendments. But let us not just dismiss it for the sake of it saying that, maybe, it has been overtaken by events or it is irrelevant. The truth is that Kenyans need each other. There is serious ethnic hatred in this country. Let us put mechanisms in place to address those issues. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}