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"id": 197000,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Gunda",
"speaker_title": "The Member for Bahari",
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"legal_name": "Benedict Fondo Gunda",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to address the House. My names are Mr. Benedict Fondo Gunda, Member of Parliament for Bahari. I want to thank God for making it possible for me to come to this House. I also want to thank the people of Bahari Constituency for voting me in as their Member of Parliament. March 25, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 387 I also take this opportunity to congratulate His Excellency the President, hon. Mwai Kibaki and the Prime Minister-designate, hon. Raila Odinga, for signing the Accord which brought normalcy to this country. I look forward to the establishment of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. Why? Let the truth come out. The people of Bahari have suffered a lot of injustice from 1963 to date. A big number of my constituents are squatters. They are squatters because successive high-ranking Government officials, from 1963 to date, have allocated themselves large tracts of land. They have also acquired beach plots at the expense of the locals. When the time comes, I hope that all those who have robbed those poor constituents will come out and say: \"Yes! I acquired this piece of land. Yes, I acquired this beach plot, although there were people living there.\" Then, the people of Bahari will decide whether to pardon them or be considered for that land that was taken away from them. Secondly, I would like to support the President's Speech and, especially, as far as education is concerned. Let there be a policy to address the plight of pre-primary teachers. Those are very important people in our society and, yet, to date, they do not have an employer they can call an employer. Most of them are employed by parents. Some of them are employed by county councils and others by private owners of those schools. That is happening and yet we know that they are doing a very good job in imparting knowledge to those young kids who will then move on to primary schools and, from there, secondary schools and onwards. I wish to see the Ministry of Education, through the Teachers Service Commission, taking up that responsibility by employing those pre-primary school teachers. Still on education, we have many self-sponsored students in various universities. In Bahari Constituency, for example, I have over 70 primary school teachers who are pursuing higher education. They are using their meagre resources to educate themselves. I am calling upon the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) to consider extending loans to those self-sponsored students, so that it can ease the burden of educating themselves. Thirdly, the President, in his Speech, talked about undertaking the second Mzima Springs Water Pipeline to Mombasa. We welcome that undertaking and look forward to that water reaching Mombasa and benefiting its residents. However, we know that the first Mzima Springs Water Pipeline used to benefit many people living along that pipeline. For example, the people of Kizingo, Kolongoni, Chadzimba and Dzishoni in Chonyi Division were connected to the first Mzima Springs Pipeline. They were enjoying that water. After some time, that water was blocked from entering the pipeline that was serving those people and, instead, it was directed to Mombasa. We, therefore, hope that when the second Mzima Springs Pipeline is undertaken, those responsible will ensure that water is directed to benefit the people who live along that pipeline. I have in mind the people in Taita, Mariakani, Mazeras, Rabai, Kaloleni and Jibana; where that pipeline used to pass. We would also like to benefit from that pipeline. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the injustices which happened, when we start the reconciliation process, let us come out truthfully. We should give information that we consider will be of benefit to this country, so that the problems we have experienced in the last three months become problems of the past. We want to build one Kenya for every Kenyan. This can only be achieved if, we, as leaders, come out truthfully and address the issues which brought about those problems. Every Kenyan, for example, should be able to live in any part of this country. Let not certain people from certain communities only benefit by being welcomed to live happily with other communities, and when other communities go to their places, they are not given the opportunity to live in peace and do business. That is not the Kenya we want to build. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}