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"id": 194011,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Munya",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for East African Community",
"speaker": {
"id": 279,
"legal_name": "Joseph Konzolo Munyao",
"slug": "joseph-munyao"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I support this very important Motion. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the blame is on Parliament, because it is Parliament which has failed over the years to establish the Offices of the Ministers of the Government of Kenya. If we had done what we are obligated to do by the Constitution, we would not be in the mess we are in. So, the right time to do so, is now. If we never did it before, it is now that we need to do it. The Constitution clearly gives the mandate of providing the number of Ministers to Parliament. I want to specifically say what the Constitution says. The Constitution is not telling us to provide the limit. The Constitution says: \"There shall be such offices---\" So, our obligation here is to create the offices. We are supposed to say \"a\", \"b\", \"c\" and \"d\", but it is not say that this is the limit and then allow the Executive to wriggle around it. Our obligation is to create those particular offices and say: \"There shall be Minister for Lands, Minister for Energy\" et cetera, so that we can give effect to what the Constitution says. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, why is it necessary to have these offices clearly spelt out in law? That way, we will avoid manipulation. Even hon. Members who want to be appointed to the Cabinet manipulate the appointing authority. They intimidate the appointing authority, because they want to be appointed Ministers. The appointing authority sometimes bends to those manipulations and intimidation and then, we end up having a huge Cabinet, that may not necessarily serve the purpose for which it is intended. So, if Parliament creates those offices and limit their number, there will be no room for everybody feeling that \"I want to be in that Cabinet\". Those are the sentiments that Mr. Ethuro was raising when he said that if there was a criteria of appointment, and the offices were limited, then not everybody would be wanting to be in the Cabinet. However, if we have so large a Cabinet, why should you miss out? If every Dick and Harry is a Member of the Cabinet, why should you miss out? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there were times, especially when we were in High School and other places, we used to hear that a Minister was coming to visit that region and you would see that the whole region was alive. In those days, the Ministers were few, respected and they used to carry themselves with decorum. They were clean; they were not associated with corrupt deals. These days, it does not matter. Even if you were involved in Goldenberg, you can become a Cabinet Minister tomorrow. If you get out, after a few years, you can be recycled back into the Cabinet even if you were involved in the Anglo Leasing scandal. Then, at the same time, we are telling Kenyans to forget about corruption; that we are zero-tolerant to corruption. We want to move forward. Who will give the example? It is the Ministers and other top Government officers that Kenyans are supposed to look up and then know that, that is the direction we are taking. That is why Kenyans never take us seriously. We give speeches that are public relations speeches. We say we are going to have a Cabinet that is clean and lean and then when it is announced, you all get shocked. You wonder what \"clean\" and \"lean\" means, and whether those words have acquired new meanings. This is 1012 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 14, 2008 because what you see is not what you had heard you were going to get. Even more importantly, there is what is called \"institutional memory\". That what we lose when we hive Ministries from other Ministries and move departments every year. Today, we hear that the Department of Sports is under a certain Ministry. The next day, you hear that it is under the Ministry of Youth and Sports. We do not even know which Ministry women affairs fall under."
}