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"speaker_name": "Mr. Kamama",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for granting me the opportunity to contribute to this important Motion. The tradition has been that we first mention our names and any other details. I am Kamama Asman, Member of Parliament for Baringo East and Member of PNU. I want to thank the people of Baringo for electing me for the second time to serve them. It was a struggle, but I want to promise March 20, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 323 the people of Baringo East that I am equal to the task and that I will deliver their expectations. I want to thank our two Principals, His Excellency the President, Mr. Mwai Kibaki, and Mr. Raila for signing the historic National Peace Accord that brought normalcy to this country. I hope that this normalcy will be felt throughout the country. I also want to thank hon. Kofi Annan and hon. Kikwete for playing a very vital role in the signing of the Accord. I recommend that in honour of His Excellency Kofi Annan, it would be fair if we remembered him for quite sometime in the future. I recommend that we rename the Procession Way that is near the Serena Hotel in his name. We could also give him automatic citizenship of this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to thank His Excellency Kufuor, the former Chairman of the African Union (AU) because he was the first person to arrive when this country was burning. I think, arising from that, he rolled out a programme that precipitated into what we are seeing at the moment. I will not forget the son of the late Martin Luther King. I think it was a great honour to come to this House. Martin Luther King Jnr, the father of Martin Luther King III, played a very crucial role in the emancipation of the Afro-Americans and has been the epitome of freedom in the entire African Continent. I am usually impressed by the way Mr. ole Ntimama likes quoting him severally. Most of us like quoting him in most fora. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to thank the Western countries for playing their part. But I want to caution them that once they are through with their assistance, they should leave this country and go back. That is because we have seen them getting involved in many conflicts in Africa, but most of them have been protracted and never-ending. I can give you a thousand and one examples. But we would wish them to participate up to a certain point and then leave and concentrate their efforts in other places. I think we have the capacity to handle our problems, especially now that we are one good Grand Coalition which the late Mulu Mutisya used to call \"Multiparty moja\" . I believe that this Grand Coalition will take this country forward. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, our President gave an excellent exposition of public policy in his Speech. The policy contains several proposals, Bills and Sessional Papers. He also recommended that we should have a joint policy that will actually take this country forward in tandem with Vision 2030. If we are able to get a hybrid manifesto from Party of National Unity's (PNU) \"Kazi Iendelee\", Orange Democratic Party's (ODM) \"Real Change\" and \"Maisha Bora\" of ODM(K), this country will go places in this Continent. So, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I just want to say something on what happened immediately after the General Elections. The underlying causes of the post-election violence is known by all and sundry. First, it is the issue of land. Secondly, there was a complaint by most Kenyans that some people have what we call disproportionate access to justice and economic opportunities. So, some people had complained that, that was a problem. But now that we are one, we want to confront those problem as Kenyans. We want to solve the land question once and for all in the Rift Valley and some parts of Coast Province. I remember when I was an Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Lands, we did a lot with Prof. Kibwana to settle people in Coast Province. We actually undertook a Rapid Response Initiative (RRI) programme to make sure that a good number of people got title deeds. But, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the Rift Valley, I think we have to bite the bullet and make sure that those who were dispossessed of their land by the colonialists - the so- called White Highlands--- Those were the Kalenjins and Maasais-- We must confront that problem once and for all. We have land that is owned by large-scale farmers in the Rift Valley. We have the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) land. Let us get that land, whether through compulsory acquisition or buying, and settle the people who are actually aggrieved. In this case, I am talking about the Maasais and Kalenjins. We have the ADC land. We have land that is owned by Brooke Bond in the highlands. Let us buy that land and settle those people. 324 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 I want all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to go back home. That is because if they do not do so, we have actually no business sitting in this House when people are living in squalid conditions. They are living in deep penury! We are here taking wine and whisky while people are languishing in problems. I am talking about the small children in those IDP camps. Once again, I will not belabour that point. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to say something on how we should handle the 1,000 people who were slaughtered. We want to have a monument. Let us have a memorial for those people. Let us have all their names listed, like we did during the 1998 American Embassy bomb blast. That way, those people will be remembered forever and ever! Amen! We do not want to repeat that kind of thing again! When I am talking about this issue, I want to remember a small kid who was thrown into the fire and the mother was told to actually sit down and watch that happen! That was really, really tragic! We want these things to be remembered by the next generation, so that we do not repeat them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, last year's General Elections were very competitive. But Kenyans expressed their democratic rights by voting the way they did. But, I want to caution Kenyans that the concept of voting 50-50 or 43 per cent against 43 per cent--- The election was described as \"close to call\" or \"it could go either way\"! An election of that nature could kill Kenyans! We want Kenyans to vote for their President with an overwhelming support of 70 per cent and above. The idea of 50-50 is what cheats everybody. If one side gets 43 per cent and the other side gets 43 per cent or thereabout, we end up getting into a quagmire. So, I call upon Kenyans to vote for their leaders with over 70 per cent or more, so that we can avoid situations where we get into a confused scenario, just like the one we have experienced. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support.Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir."
}