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"id": 197180,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Nguyai",
"speaker_title": "The Member for Kikuyu",
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"legal_name": "Lewis Nganga Nguyai",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. My names are Lewis Nguyai. I am from Kikuyu Constituency. I want to thank you for catching my eye. Hon. Thuo, being taller than me, was trying to overshadow me! So, thank you, Mr, Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to address this House for the first time. When I say that I am from Kikuyu Constituency, there are many people who have been asking: Is Kikuyu such a lucky tribe or ethnic community that they have a Member of Parliament to themselves? I would want to probably inform them that Kikuyu Constituency is the former Kabete Constituency. The name was taken away wrongly and was returned by the ECK. It is actually a location within the Central Province. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would want to support the Speech that the President gave during the Official State Opening Ceremony. First and foremost, from the outset, I would want to congratulate both His Excellency the President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister-designate, hon. Raila, for rising to the occasion when this country so badly needed magnanimous leaders, who look at the needs of the country before their very own and who badly needed to ensure that this country does not disintegrate into ethnic violence that was almost precipitating. So, I am happy that I will be serving this House under the two great leaders. During the Speech the President was unable to mention the word ethnicity. I wish to state that the word \"ethnicity\" has been misused to invoke selfish needs of leaders. The populace of this country has been used like a carpet. This is because when we rise up and we want to take leadership positions, we make promises by saying that this particular ethnic community is marginalising this other ethnic community; that this ethnic community has taken advantage of this other ethnic community; that this ethnic community is cleverer than this ethnic community or this ethnic community is made up of people who are of a certain nature, either they are industrialists or they are sexy or thieves. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is time for us not to take advantage of the populace because of our own selfish needs. We should address the issues that confront us. The problems that confront us, as you look into the present situation that we are in, 80 per cent of the Members of this House are new. They are new Members because the Kenyan population wants a change in the way leadership is being delivered in this country or the way the country is being run. So, the Kenyan population is watching with bated breath to see how this country will be run from now on. I am sure if we do not rise to the occasion, we will be kicked out within the next five years. This is because the Kenyan people have realised that they have the power in the ballot. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, during the State Opening Speech the President mentioned about the establishment of a Technical, Industrial, Vocational and Enterprise Training Authority. I think, for far too long, the Kenyan population has not been encouraged or even rewarded for being creative and for trying to become entrepreneurial. So, the formation of that Authority together with a national policy for science, technology and innovation will probably put us on a path that can enable this country to start delivering services to our people. This will help them to meet their own needs, provide their employment and employment for others. We have labour that is very cheap within this country but we have never been able to manufacture even a bicycle. I remember the first President saying that if this country was able to produce just a bicycle, he would climb out of his limousine and ride on that bicycle because he would be proud to see that there is innovation. I believe we have not had the opportunity to teach our people to explore; to be confident and to try new ideas so as to become industrialists. I will propose that this is the time for us to look at the other emerging markets within the continent and in particular, I will talk about India where they have cottage industries. I think it will be proper for us, as that authority is being created and the policy for innovation is formulated, to have a visit to see how India was able to start small 334 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 20, 2008 industries that can enable people to empower themselves. When we talk about us having a poor land policy, I am sure many of you know that even within the Central Province we have what we call the land reserves. The maximum size of those land reserves is a quarter acre. We have four generations of people who live within those quatre acres. I am sure it is the same for many areas of Kenya, for example, Kisii. Within those areas, people need to be taught how they can become productive and start to develop small industries that can serve within the populace. I am looking forward to seeing the establishment as being able to do that. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one of the problems that we have suffered is that problem of tragedies. If we were to look into history, you will see that when we were colonised, this country was given a bwana- and-native kind of attitude. That colonisation in itself brought the problem of us feeling as if we are inferior to others. In history, I think and I heard one of the past speakers talk about the late Martin Luther King Junior--- I started to wonder and think why we are called \"black\" when really our skins are not black. If you look at the dictionary, the definition of black is something that is very dark, impure and evil. When you compare this definition to those people who call themselves \"white\"; it means they are pure and clean. I must apologise to my own children. This is because when they were growing up, we used to have some neighbours across and they used to say; \"We want to go and visit the house of those pink people\". If you really look at our skins, you will see that our skins are very brown. So, I asked them: \"What are the colours of our skin?\" They could differentiate that our hair is black and our skins are brown. Just by those simple connotations, like the way in America we had the Negroes being called nigers, I think here in Kenya, we should start looking at ourselves as proud Kenyans who are able to overcome, at the times of a need, a very difficult time where the country was almost torn apart. We should be proud of doing that and more importantly, become proud people who are brown and one country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I conclude, I want to say that we have many problems within this country. We have the issue of unemployment; we said we would create 500,000 jobs each year. Thank you Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir."
}