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{
    "id": 197573,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/197573/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 232,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Samoei",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 204,
        "legal_name": "William Samoei Ruto",
        "slug": "william-ruto"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to second this Bill which, as the Attorney-General has said, is part of the negotiations that went into the mediation efforts that came after the last General Elections. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me add my voice to what my colleagues have said about these Bills - the previous Bill and the Bill that is before us now. What we are witnessing today in our country is a historic moment. I want to ask this House, as we have done before, to rise up to the challenge that faces our country at this point in time. I want to ask this House to pass this Bill which was negotiated and agreed upon by His Excellency the President and His Excellency the 214 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 18, 2008 Prime Minister-designate. It forms the foundation of where we want to go as a nation. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, allow me to commend the Panel of Eminent Persons. They did provide elaborate and distinguished leadership for those of us who were engaged in the mediation efforts. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to thank my colleagues from both sides. I want to thank our respective parties for giving us the opportunity, on behalf of the parties and for the sake of the people of Kenya, to participate in the mediation efforts. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the document you see is as a result of very delicate but intensive negotiations. We engaged each other and decided that we can have all the levels that there are, but we will tell each other the truth and we will call a spade a spade. We never attempted to call a spade a big spoon. As a result of those intense negotiations--- I want to congratulate my colleagues for being candid. When things became difficult, and we had to make difficult choices, we took refuge in the words of Martin Luther King Junior who said: \"A nation which continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its spiritual death on the instalment basis\". We decided to make the hard choices and take the hard decisions. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when it came to the time of our Principals to do their bit, they did not let this country down. His Excellency President Mwai Kibaki and the Prime Minister-designate Raila Odinga rose to the challenge and had the courage to make the necessary compromises for us to get the Bills that are before us today. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Bills that are before this House are not an end in themselves. They are a means to an end. They give this country and us an opportunity to create a vehicle that is going to give the people of Kenya the necessary leadership, so that we can address ourselves to the real issues that affect this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, through these Bills, we have an opportunity to create the vehicle that will allow us to do several things. First amongst them is to address very serious issues. As we talk today, there are many Kenyans - thousands of them - who do not sleep at home because they live in camps. We need to move with dispatch to deal and process those Kenyans, so that they can go back to their homes and live again as the rest of us."
}