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"id": 197961,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Gumo",
"speaker_title": "The Member for Westlands",
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"legal_name": "Fredrick fidelis Omulo Gumo",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me an opportunity to support this Motion. We are here as hon. Members. As you know, only 30 per cent of the former hon. Members made it back to this House. The majority of the hon. Members, about 70 per cent, are all new. This is a very good thing. In fact, this has shown some of us, who have been here for long, that unless we pull up our socks, maybe in 2012 we shall not be able to make it back. I have also noticed that the majority of hon. Members here are very young people. Some of us are now getting old, although when we came here we were also very young. When we were elected for the first time, some of us were in our early 30s. Today, we are being told that we are old, and that we should get out. It is easier to defend your seat when you are old than to come here when you are already old. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I must thank His Excellency the President and Mr. Raila for having signed the peace accord. We needed it. With what we had seen, there was no way out. They were the only two people who could bring us back on track. It is good that they saw sense, and very quickly agreed to come together. We must remember that when they greeted each other and signed that accord on that day, there was relief; everybody was happy. We should follow suit. We must give them support. We must not do anything that can derail the whole process, because wananchi have suffered. As we all know, the people who suffered the most were the very poor. These are people who have nothing to do with politics. The people whose houses were burnt are those who do not even dream of being councillors at one time. That shows that if leaders disagree--- we Africans say that \" Ndovu wawili wakipigana, nyasi ndizo huumia \". Mr. Speaker, Sir, the greatest trouble we have in this country is tribalism. When we got Independence tribalism had died off. The problem we have today is not with the Head of State but is with the people who are given appointments. Instead of these people using those offices to assist everybody in the country, they go back to their own tribes, villages and homes. That is what has created problems. In the earlier days, you could walk to any Minister's or Permanent Secretary's office, whether he or she came from your home area or not, and you would be assisted. Today, when you visit some of these Ministers' offices, if he or she is a Kamba, you find only Kambas in the waiting room. If he or she is Luo, you will find Luos there. The same applies if he or she is a Luhya or a Kikuyu. That is the problem we have. We must stop that. Today, if you want to appoint a Turkana with a Phd degree to a position, you will get him or her. If you want somebody from West Pokot or North Eastern Province, you will get him or her. There are so many qualified people. It is not that only certain communities have gone to school and not others. They might have more Phds, but there will always be only one job for one person. So, let us try to mix people, so that they can feel that they belong to this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the issue of IDs, we should pass a law that nobody should fill in the forms for ID cards what his or her tribe is, because it is immaterial. Whether someone is Luhya or a Maasai why do they have to put that information in the form? Does this really mater if someone is a Kenyan? Let us avoid that. Kenyans are known. Today, if you happen to come from a border district you cannot get an ID card. People from Busia and Bungoma districts, for example--- I do not know whether this affects the Maasai, although they are also from the border. If you come from Siaya, for example, you cannot get an ID card. We have grown-ups today, some young men who are even 35 years old, who do not even March 12, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 113 have ID cards. We have married women with five children, who also do not have ID cards. If you visit the districts which border Uganda and Tanzania, the people there do not have ID cards. If you deny a Kenyan an ID card, this is like killing him or her. He or she cannot get a job. If he or she dies on the road side nobody will identify him or her. If a Ugandan wants an ID card, he or she will get it, because he or she will bribe and get it. But the Kenyan, who knows he is Kenyan, cannot get an ID card. These things must be sorted out. His Excellency the President created the Ministry of IDs--- What do they call it?"
}