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"id": 223698,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/223698/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Mungatana",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 185,
"legal_name": "Danson Buya Mungatana",
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion. First, let me register my appreciation to this delegation, which comprised of very distinguished gentlemen from this House, and people whom we know have had outstanding military service record before they joined this House. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, what I find interesting about this Report is that Lieutenant- Colonel Kituku, who accompanied the delegation of the hon. Members, made it very clear that he was there to supervise the construction of that ship from its inception. He was involved when the work began, and he gave a clear report that the work was actually 90 per cent done. He had said, in his report, that there were a few things awaiting to be done and then we have the ship at home. What was being published by the Press and the general media at that time, without bothering to find out the facts from the people who were involved, was that the Government of Kenya, which I serve, was, in fact, involved in scandals, and that it was paying for a ship that was non-existent, and the Kenyan public actually believed it. Unfortunately, without even clarifying the position, our comrades on the Opposition side went on the assault. This matter continued to be magnified in the eyes of the public, and the Government continued to be vilified for something which today we sit here and listen to legislators from the Opposition saying the Government must pay for. In fact, the Government was so intimidated that it started saying that it would not pay any of the bills relating to those projects despite the obvious legal implications, and the greater burden that failure to pay would have caused on the taxpayers. My sincere appeal, as a Kenyan citizen and a Member of this House, is that yes, we should have an Opposition which must speak when we go wrong; yes, we should have the media, which should report when things are not right but, please, for the sake of this nation and its posterity, let us be objective. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, in this case, we are talking about billions of shillings. Even the stoppage of the payment is going to cost us billions of shillings, because somebody decided that this was an opportunity for them to \"hit\" or mudsling the Government. We have many things coming up. We are saying, let us have responsible discussions on matters that concern the security of this country. It would be very appropriate if we saw some of the legislators who were on the forefront, claiming this or that was a scandal, coming here to also contribute and, in fact, apologise to this House for the things they said, which were totally non-factual. I urge hon. Members to support this Report. I really thank the hon. Members who went out there, verified this matter and put this matter straight before the Kenyan Government and her people. Most unfortunately, as we know, facts do not make news. Real issues do not make news. What makes news are rumours and other matters. However, I urge and appeal to our colleagues in the media to, please, correct the wrong impression that has been created over time about these 1082 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 2, 2007 contracts. I wholly support this Report. Thank you."
}