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"speaker_name": "Mr. Mudavadi",
"speaker_title": "The Member for Sabatia",
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"id": 84,
"legal_name": "Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi",
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"content": "We should not attempt to interpret issues when we are not competent to interpret them. We should not try to purport that we are pushing an agenda on a particular issue when we are not yet ready. This House is going to be called upon to make some extremely serious legislative decisions. It is important that until Parliament has dealt with that legislative agenda, we be very cautious and 70 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES March 12, 2008 refrain ourselves from trying to interpret what is not yet law. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Presidential Speech has a few important issues. In his remarks, at the very outset, he brings out the issue of the 300,000 displaced individuals. These individuals have lost their homes, property and loved ones. They have lost their investments. Their livelihood is literally back to ground zero. This must be the priority of this House. It must be our priority to ensure that urgent steps are taken. Towards this effort, I commend the establishment of the Endowment Fund of Kshs1 billion to be used on the re-settlement of those particular citizens of this country. What is important is that the feasibility and functioning of the committee dealing with this endowment fund need to be brought out urgently. It is important as a starting point, to make sure that the committee handling this particular fund is made public, and that it works out effectively. Its rules and everything about it should be published in a manner that can quickly be understood. What we do not want to hear at the very outset, for instance, is that the money is being used in a distorted manner to favour one section or the other. That would be a very bad start. So, I would really want to urge that those who are managing this endowment fund take this into account, so that they quickly strike confidence in the entire Kenyan population. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the accord that was signed by the President and Mr. Raila is so important and critical. I want to talk about an incident which happened in Kakamega, Western Province. There were some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the police station. On the night of the day when this accord was signed, people marched to the police station. For a moment, the IDPs at that police station thought that they were under attack only for them to be told, and for members of the public to speak to the police officers, saying: \"We have come here not to cause injury or inflict pain on these people, but rather to tell them that they can now go back to their homes. We are ready to escort them back to their individual homes in this part of the country for them to settle and continue with their lives.\" That was the importance that was put on this particular accord. It is also important for us to acknowledge that there are, indeed, still some misgivings in terms of the respect of this accord, because people want to see it translated into law. Those of you who looked at the newspapers yesterday and those of you who have interacted with some of the IDPs have been asked: \"Are we sure that this peace process will hold? Are we sure that this time round things will be in order?\" How else can they be sure unless we now translate this accord into law? We have to make sure that we convert the accord into law, and Parliament is the best and most competent body to do so. After all, it is the only competent body that is available to do so. I would like to request that we move ahead and be able to entrench this particular accord into our laws and also our Constitution. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in his remarks, the President also said that this accord--- If I may quote the speech on page 13, it says:- \"It opens a new chapter in the management of our national affairs.\" I am emphasizing this because it is important that we acknowledge that it is not business as usual. Even the President himself uses the words \"It is not business as usual\". This is a phrase that was used by both the international community and so many Kenyans, who were making comments about the crisis. The President says so on page 15 of his Address. He says so because he is acknowledging, and he wants us to acknowledge, that there are going to be changes. There is going to be a new approach and a new governance structure. In the new governance structure we must learn to be adaptive. We should be not be rigid. We should not be like a huge ship that is finding it so difficult to turn. It is important that we inculcate, both at the political level and even within our Public Service, the spirit that brings out the fact that there will be a new chapter in the management of our affairs. Civil servants must remain neutral. They must do their job and serve everybody equally. It is important that they appreciate that a new era is coming in, a new Constitution is in the March 12, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 71 offing, and that the preliminary stages of change are coming in through this accord. More fundamental change are on the way, and it is important that this starts being assimilated by the Kenyan society in the preparation for the new Kenya that we want to build. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to commend my colleagues who were part of the mediation team, Ms. Karua, Mr. Wetangula, Mr. M. Kilonzo and Pro. Ongeri. On our side there were myself, Mr. Ruto, Dr. S. Kosgey, Mr. Orengo and the panel of eminent persons led by Dr. Kofi Annan. We had our moments. It was not particularly cosy. There were some vicious words from time to time. But what is important is the outcome. We must remember that the mediation process is not an end in itself. We may have been part of creating some basic framework, but the bigger challenge and task lie with this particular House to crystallise and analyze every issue as effectively as is necessary, so that we can provide sufficient hope for the reconstruction of this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, finally, I want to say that we have made one big commitment, and that is to have a new constitution in 12 months. That is the biggest of the commitments that are coming out of this accord. That commitment has been emphasized in the President's Address. Therefore, it is important that the 10th Parliament lives up to it. May be this is the time to look at yourselves as the famous--- For those who read the Bible, we have the Ten Commandments. It is important that we remember that this is the Tenth Commandment in terms of the legislative agenda on this particular issue. With those few remarks, I beg to second."
}