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"id": 197328,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/197328/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Ethuro",
"speaker_title": "The Member for Turkana Central",
"speaker": {
"id": 158,
"legal_name": "Ekwee David Ethuro",
"slug": "ekwee-ethuro"
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"content": " I know, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker Sir. I wish I do not have to be alone. I want to thank God for the opportunity to serve in this Parliament for the third term. I also want to thank the good people of Turkana Central for deeming it fit that I was the most eligible candidate to continue representing them in this august House. It is my hope and prayer that I will not fail them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, yesterday was an important day for us. As the President said, this country needs a spirit of national reconciliation. This reconciliation should go beyond the passage of Bills. My CRE teacher, in \"O\" Level used to say that Jeremiah 31 says:\"The day will come when the law shall no longer be written in books but in the hearts of men\" and perhaps \"women\". I am using the words \"perhaps women\" because I am quoting the Bible. He did not say women then but I am trying to make it modern; \"men and women\". The spirit of reconciliation that we have found is not just that we are united because we are going to get more opportunities for the political animals in the Kenyan context, but in the words of hon. Raila, it is a means to an end, an end where Kenyans will no longer see poverty, a means where Kenya shall be defined by its prosperity across the region. Just because I define the boundaries of this nation, that does not leave me to be marginalised and oppressed. We are looking for a Kenya where, even if you come from which part, I like referring to Mandera Border Point One, Isebania and Vanga at the Coast; we can all feel truly Kenyan. But that Kenya must be realised. I was really wishing to see that a framework for the realisation of that Kenya is part and parcel of the Bills we passed. That way, as much we entrench it in the Constitution, we should make a deliberate constitutional arrangement to ensure that at least a framework containing a commitment to poverty alleviation is put in place. A programme should be drawn out to that affect. Our youth should be meaningfully and productively engaged so that they have no opportunities to engage in incidents of violence when the politicians are suffering. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, yesterday, my good friend, Prof. Anyang'-Nyong'o, said that when elephants fight the grass suffers. When the elephants make love, the grass still suffers, but he said the music from the latter is sweeter. He forgot to realise it is sweeter between the PNU and ODM Members of Parliament. It is not for those ones who are not participating in that exercise. It is still terrible to them. We hope the future of this country is neither blue nor orange. The future of this country, in my view, is ASAL. Land as a means of production is an important factor. If you look at any simple reading of economic productivity, you will realise land is an important factor. This was captured in the mid-1980s. The only way we can do more production is to intensify and bring ASAL areas into production. I am afraid that the President's Speech did not capture the ASAL areas in spite of the fact that in the Ninth Parliament, this country was excited by the fact that the President himself, in the opening of Parliament, made it absolutely clear that for further development and improvement of this country, ASAL areas will be given a priority in his Government. I really wish to see that, that prioritisation will take place. I want to believe that because of the crowded agenda of this Parliament, the President somehow just forget that issue but it will be part of the agenda of his Government. There is an ASAL policy before the Cabinet, that requires only Kshs300 billion to implement. It needs to come before the Floor of this House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for the third time that Turkana people have brought me to this House, and in the name of the pastoralist communities, it is my personal and singular duty to ensure that such a Bill will be passed with the same speed that we saw yesterday. A speed that threatens even the debating ability of this House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want us to move with speed in the enactment of March 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 295 a new Constitution. What we did yesterday can be in vain if we do not complete a new Constitution. In my view, this should be done in less than 12 months. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President was right on spot saying that even Mr. Orengo alone, any hon. Member--- Has he not borrowed from the Accord? If the coalition members can appoint the so called eminent personalities--- It is a matter of collating information. The information is there. We have the Bomas Draft, the Kilifi Draft and the Naivasha Draft. We can, at least, come and agree on this and pass it in this House, while we are in this honeymoon, without bringing many other issues that might just distract us from it. It would be much better if we got a new Constitution that properly talks about all this power sharing. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, some of us really wanted to contribute yesterday. The Prime Minister will be appointed on the basis of the party with majority Members of Parliament. Chances are that we could actually have a President from a party with the majority Members of Parliament and a Prime Minister from the same party. Then what happens to your power sharing in real terms? I thought we were running away from the issue of the winner-takes it all. I want to see a possibility that if a particular party produces the President then the Prime Minister must come from the party with the next largest majority. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are back to the old issues. I need to make this absolutely clear here. There is the danger of majority rule. It can only help if individual rights are also considered. Imagine, as somebody once said, if you have majority rule of five hyenas and one sheep deciding what they will have for supper, they will be so unanimous that they will go for the sheep and not any other of them. It is important to enshrine the rule about individual rights. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, during my first time in Parliament the Speaker, then Mr. Kaparo, said: \"The minority will have their say but the majority will have their way\". If you come from where I come from, you know that to access West Pokot is hard. Two bridges have not been built for the last five years. The road from Kapenguria to Lodwar and Lokichoggio leads to Southern Sudan - a country we can take advantage of. We can translate our peace into tangible economic returns for this great nation, and extend our influence in the region. That road has just been left like that. I know we will come here, apportion money for roads as we did last time. Kshs4 billion will be for different places, depending on where you come from. That culture must stop. We must allocate resources on the basis of need and not influence. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we want a new agenda for Kenya; an agenda that prioritises what is important for this nation; an agenda that we, as hon. Members of Parliament, can sign and say, \"for the sake of this nation I want a road elsewhere not in my place\". I am hoping that the Chair will provide leadership in teaching Kenyans not to make heroes out of thieves, who get appointed Ministers. To the extent that you steal from your own people, you are a hero. They do not care whether other Kenyans are dying. We want an agenda for Kenya that ensures that all the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)--- Turkana has 6,000 of them. Thank you Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for finally seeing me; I look forward to more opportunities."
}