HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 197747,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/197747/?format=api",
"text_counter": 74,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Maina",
"speaker_title": "The Member for Mathira",
"speaker": {
"id": 75,
"legal_name": "Ephraim Mwangi Maina",
"slug": "ephraim-maina"
},
"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, my names are Ephraim Maina from Mathira in Nyeri District. First and foremost, I wish to thank my constituents for electing me to this House. Secondly, I wish to thank His Excellency, Mzee Kibaki and hon. Raila Odinga for the Accord they signed. It brought a new chapter in our country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on 28th December, 2007, when I was declared the winner, I was asked to make a few comments. I said that when I come to this House, I will use my time to try and bring together hon. Members of this House because of the balkanization that I had noted was happening in this country. Unfortunately, little did I know that on 30th December, 2007, I would see the devil on my face. Violence broke out in this country for nothing other than the tribalism that we had preached and the hatred that we had nurtured. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was not in this House over the last five years. I did not have an opportunity to tell anybody what I was observing. But to anybody who was engaging with various people in this country, we were all aware of the hatred that had been perpetuated. Actually, the last General Elections were based along the lines of: \"I hate such and such a tribe! I will not elect so and so irrespective of what he has done, because he belongs to such a tribe.\" The 164 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 13, 2008 greatest thing the Tenth Parliament can do is to take Kenya back to where our forefathers wanted it to be. The late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Jaramogi Odinga, Masinde Muliro and the people who died for our freedom, died so that we can have one Kenya. We should ask ourselves whether we have a duty to adopt the ideals that they held. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have seen the worst face of this country; the violence that erupted. But a few questions remain unanswered. Until we answer those questions, I do not think we will be getting to the root cause of that problem. The first question is: The violence started in Eldoret. Where were we? Where were the people in charge? Why did they not crush that violence? We all know that the fire that destroys a forest, sometimes, starts from a small cigarette butt. You can actually put it off with your foot. But in another three hours, you cannot! We all watched! It started in Eldoret, came through Burnt Forest, Molo and to Nakuru, which is a major town. It became not a town but a den of gangsters; people who were ready to kill! It then came to Naivasha and Nairobi. It was also in Mombasa. I actually believe that the mediators who came here - the group of eminent African personalities - did not come because of rigging. If anybody thinks there was any rigging--- They came because of the violence and the effects of that violence. Let us not try to overplay the issue of the elections when moving forward to the new Kenya. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we can talk about what should be done for the youths and other groupings of people in the slums. However, I think Kenya, as a nation, has lost direction. Let us not talk about land issues because land will not make this country wealthy. What will make this country wealthy is industrialisation. Putting the resources of Kenya in the hands of Kenyans is what will make Kenya wealthy. This loss of direction has worried me. I have not seen another country which does not have a policy for its people. What am I trying to say? We have this country. If you are a foreigner and you land here with Kshs10 million or Kshs20 million, you will have an appointment with a Minister, but what do our local investors face? I am one of them. They face bias every day. They face unfair treatment by our own laws and our own power holders. I say so with a lot of experience. How would you expect Kenya to industrialise? We go to Malaysia and admire that country's big highways. We do not remember that it is Dr. Mahat who made policies courageously and told the nternational Monetary Fund (IMF): \"I cannot sign that. I will not sign a death penalty for my country.\" He said: \"Malaysia will be for Malaysians.\" He even went further to make sure that the foreigners, who had actually become prosperous in that country, gave way for the Malaysians to take over. We do not have to go the Malaysia way. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in Africa today, South Africa has policies. You may call it black peoples empowerment policy or whatever. Her people must develop. The same is true with a country like Angola. However, in this country, we do not have a single policy to encourage our own investors or artisans, who invent things. Kenya is an agricultural country. Look at our industrialisation; all the industries are concentrated in Nairobi and other towns. Why? Other countries came up with policies to encourage investors. If you go to invest in Isiolo, for instance, you must be accorded some benefits and encouraged to go there. Such policies are meant to stop rural-urban migration, which brings about the emergence of big slums in our urban areas. This country has never had such slums. I like quoting this country's first President. Mzee Jomo Kenyatta had a very simple sounding - but very deep - policy. You know, great things are said in a simple manner. He used to say: \"When God made the world, there was a place for everybody. Akamuweka Mwafrika Afrika .\" Let nobody brand me a racist. I believe in internationalism. The late Mzee Kenyatta continued: \" Akamuweka mwingine bara Asia. Akamuweka mwingini bara Ulaya. Ninataka kufuata huompango wa Mwenyezi Mungu, because God is always right.\" However, we have caused our people not to enjoy the resources that God, the creator, gave them. Hence, this country will never develop. You can talk of development and have a few industrialists who do not belong here. March 13, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 165 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me give an example. Projects come here. There is unemployment. Some of this money never lands on Kenyan soil. The company comes from Germany. The money comes from New York. It is wired to Germany after we approve it. Maybe, only 2 per cent of that money lands on Kenyan soil for employment of a few labourers. Is that the Kenya we want? Forty years after Independence, are our people in banking? Are they in industries? Are they even in the major agricultural sectors? Why? Because this country has failed to recognise what President Roosevelt once said - that, he would ensure that the resources of the United States of America (USA) remained in the hands of Americans - and started taking the USA from the economic recession it was in, in 1933 to a position of wealth. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}