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{
    "id": 197937,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/197937/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 36,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Lesrima",
    "speaker_title": "The Member for Samburu West",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 178,
        "legal_name": "Simon Saimanga Lesirma",
        "slug": "simon-lesirma"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Presidential Address. My name is Mr. Simeon Lesrima. I come from Samburu West Constituency which is just below Lake Turkana for those of you who March 12, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 99 may have problems in locating it. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my constituents for re- electing me for the second time. I also want to congratulate colleagues who have been elected in various constituencies. I would like to urge all of us to develop the spirit of reconciliation on behalf of our people. From my experience in the last Parliament, our people will fight if we fight here. Our people will talk peace if we talk peace here since they listen to us. So, I urge hon. Members to develop a spirit of reconciliation and send right signals out to our people. Let us make history as the Tenth Parliament; as a Parliament that will midwife the birth of the new Constitution and also one that will deal with the past. It is not a very easy task to deal with the past. There are a lot of interpretations on historical injustices. There is a lot of panic in the country. Some people believe that land will be taken away from them. I believe that the question of land requires another day and forum. However, my understanding is that nobody should be denied the right to own land, especially if he bought it. Compensation does not necessarily mean returning people back to where they lived during pre-colonial days. I leave that to a debate on another day. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to commend His Excellency the President, and hon. Raila, for signing the Accord. This Accord leaves us with very few options; either to live in peace or war. I go for the option of peace. We are all Kenyans. We look forward at this time of jostling for positions to a formation of a Government that recognises merit, but also accepts the fact that Kenya is a big country and the Government must have the face of Kenya. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the President's Speech was very comprehensive and had a very big agenda on very important issues. Of particular importance is the humanitarian assistance for post-election victims. Although we do not have post-election victims in my constituency, we do have pre- election Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). I hope the relevant Government department will also look at pre-election IDPs arising out of that menace called cattle rustling. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the President must also be commended for mentioning tourism and wildlife Bills. He also mentioned something to do with science and technology policy. At the international level, Coast Province leads in tourist attractions. It accounts for about 60 per cent. Other parts of Kenya, particularly my constituency, hosts wildlife in large numbers. When I hear that the Wildlife Bill will be brought back, I know that my people will also benefit through prevention of human-wildlife conflict and establishment of tourism facilities. Mr. Speaker, Sir, science and technology is very crucial. Over the years, the Ministry has been established and abolished. It should be remembered that the East Asian countries were at the same level of development with us in the early 1960s. It was science and technology, and the development of human resources that propelled them to the First World from the Third World. Mr. Speaker, Sir, another commendable aspect of the President's Speech is what I would term as parliamentary reforms. I was extremely pleased by the instructions given by the President to the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) to give research support to parliamentarians. This will improve our research and enrich our contribution in this House. I would also urge the PSC to improve Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities because we are"
}