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"id": 197220,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Affey",
"speaker_title": "Nominated Member",
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"legal_name": "Mohammed Abdi Affey",
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"content": " Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion. As you know, this Motion was interrupted in order to provide the House with an opportunity to debate the Bills that we debated and passed 228 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 19, 2008 yesterday. I want to take this opportunity to, first of all, thank the House for what they did yesterday. They performed a patriotic duty. It was the desire of Kenyans that this House behaved the way it did for peace and tranquillity to prevail in this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, having said that, I stand here this morning to thank my party, the Orange Democratic Party of Kenya ODM(K), for giving me the opportunity to be part of this historic Tenth Parliament. As you know, some of us are privileged because we have served in this House before. The President, in his contribution yesterday, emphasized reconciliation, nation-building, security and peace. We all know that without peace we cannot have security and stability in the country. It is very disturbing to know that a country like Kenya, which assisted other states in the region to find peace and security, reconciliation, and even putting back in place governments which had collapsed, can require similar services from Africa and the rest of the world. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, some of us, and particularly myself, had an opportunity to work for this country as an Ambassador in Somalia. As you know, Somalia could be having one of the most stable governments in this region because her people are one. They speak one language. They profess the same religion. Even their dressing is almost uniform. Everything in that country is uniform. However, because of political recklessness, compounded by greed, ethnicity and desire by politicians to feel good, the government structures of that country collapsed along time ago. Seventeen years down the road, the people of Somalia cannot have peace. There is no government that is able to work on behalf of the people. Just imagine what could have happened if politicians here did not do what they did yesterday. They rose to the occasion to save this country. Just imagine what could have happened to a country of 43 ethnic communities if we did not rise to occasion! If it tips off, Kenya will never be the same again. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you ask these hon. Members to speak their different languages, you will think you are in a crazy marketplace. That is why Kiswahili is an important language in this country, because it is a unifying factor. Let us be careful not to destroy what we have. It is only after you have destroyed that you can understand the meaning of what you have. I remember in one of our discussions in Somalia, Mogadishu, a young man approached me and told me: \"Mr. Ambassador, I just want to know how I can become a Kenyan\". Then I was taken aback. I asked him why he wanted to be a Kenyan, yet he had a country. Then he told me that in Kenya children go to school - he was 14 years old, yet he had never seen the inside of a classroom. He said Kenya is a peaceful country and its leaders are patriotic. So, yesterday when I saw Mr. Raila and the President behaving the way they behaved, leading the country towards peace and stability, I just remembered how important it is to be patriotic. It is only through patriotism that you can get peace. As I discuss patriotism, allow me to pay tribute to my party leader, Mr. Musyoka, the Vice- President. We know that there were elections and the aftermath of the elections. There was a contest and the aftermath became a tribal contest or war. It was never about who had won or lost the elections. If the Vice-President and the party did not close ranks early enough with the President of the country, we would not be speaking about Kenya today. Even reconciliation would have been impossible. Therefore, we must understand that, as we pay tribute to these leaders, there are others who sacrificed. There was a lot of hostility in some sections of the country and in the media at that time, but we knew we were doing what was right for Kenya. As you know, Western Province and Nyanza provinces were burning, and the Rift Valley was at war. There were also hostilities and tension in Nairobi, in places like Mathare and Embakasi. If we added to those areas Eastern Province, including Ukambani, where could we be today? It would have been a disaster. As we pay tribute to people, we need to acknowledge that my party actually saved Kenya. It is us who took the March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 229 initiative to close ranks early enough with the President in order to make Kenya a better country, and provide the conducive environment for peace to prevail, and for dialogue to take place. It was not about what was written in the media, but about patriotism. That was about saving Kenya and making it a better place. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President, in his Address to Parliament discussed a few important matters. I am sad to note that where I come from, North Eastern Province, the bread basket is livestock. In this Address, not a single statement was made about the livestock industry. What it means is that we are asking for justice in this country. The truth should be told. Apparently, certain economic activities are better than others. We must adjust the way the Budget is done in this country. We must reflect the realities in this country. This country is not only about coffee and tea, but also about camels, goats and sheep. There are people whose livelihoods depend on these animals. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, as we do the Constitution and ask for justice, I just want to say that the proposed Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission is so critical for us. Right now, there are internally displaced persons, whom we all would like to resume normal lives. That should be done as quickly as possible. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, at some stage I thought we had surrendered our sovereignty. There are 17 Kenyans who are languishing in jails in Ethiopia. They have no desire to be there. If they are criminals, we have our courts to try them. Why is it that we took them all the way to Ethiopia and subjected their families to untold suffering, pain and anxiety? As we discuss this, I want to request the Government - I am happy that the Leader of Government Business is here - that, in order to create the conditions for reconciliation and healing, those Kenyans must be brought back as soon as possible, even if it means doing so tomorrow and this country will be more at peace with itself. I do not understand why we took them to Ethiopia, yet we have courts here and those people are Kenyans. Other people, who found themselves in that kind of a situation, have been taken back by their respective countries. Let us discuss this in good faith and trust. Let us not also use political rallies to undermine what we achieved yesterday, because all of us cannot be President, Prime Minister, Vice-President or Ministers. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}