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"speaker_name": "Prof. Maathai",
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"content": "You should be able to have a voice of dissent when you feel that the right thing has not been done. None of us has the absolute wisdom and, therefore, it is important for us to be willing to listen, because even within our own parties, Government or the Opposition, there can be dissention, and that should be allowed. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as it has already been said, especially by the Leader of the Official Opposition, in this country, we are still working towards political parties that have ideologies. Although we call our political parties names that suggest philosophies, ideologies or values, we all know that those are just names. Quite often, those names are not reflected by the activities, philosophies, actions or practices of the members of those political parties. But it is very important for us to have political parties that pursue ideologies, philosophies or values, because that is the only way in which we can break down the current policy of political personalities or personality cults. Much of what we call \"political parties\" in our country are still parties that are designed or defined by the person who is the leader of that party. If the leader of that party believes in tribalism, we all practise tribalism; if the leader of that party believes in democracy, we will all practise that democracy. We need to move away from personality cults and ethnicity politics and move towards politics that is directed and inspired by values, philosophies and ideologies. That would indicate political maturity that, definitely, we can only hope for. But at the moment, that is not what is guiding us. That, definitely, is what we ought to aim at. If we have a strong Bill, this culture can be cultivated so that, in the future, it will not be strange for a person from any part of the country to follow a leader, not because of the region from where they come, but rather because of the philosophy, values, ideals and principles which that person represents. That will, definitely, have helped us overcome ethnicity and personality cult politics that we now find dominant in our country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to commend the Minister for introducing the core issue of funding political parties. The inability of political parties to fund their activities and the fact that the majority of people who support political parties at the grassroots levels are poor has largely contributed to the fact that, it is only those who have money and those who can support parties who eventually define what those political parties will be, who will be supported by that political party and even who will become a candidate in that political party. So, finding money from the Consolidated Fund to support political parties is extremely important. It is a milestone in the development of our political system because it will, definitely mean that those people with ideas and philosophies can articulate them without being held hostage by the people who have money. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to support the Minister on the issue of proportionality. Obviously, we must support parties that seem to receive support from the members of the public. Those parties that have the appeal and the support of the people deserve to be supported adequately, so that people can feel that their money is being put into the political forum which they support. The Bill ought to also provide for nurturing of political parties. I heard the Minister suggest that there will be a deliberate effort to nurture political parties. We should not make it virtually impossible for anybody or group to try to articulate their values through our political systems 804 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 19, 2007 simply because they cannot reach the threshold that has been set. To say a certain number of votes are necessary before a political party can receive funds is adequate, so that you do not have people registering political parties just because they want to draw resources from the Fund. Indeed, we ought to nurture political parties and encourage as many political parties as people are willing to form. Eventually, in a truly competitive democratic system, very few political parties will eventually emerge and thrive and survive. Eventually, the situation will sort itself out, so that the majority of Kenyans will show which parties they support. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to support the Minister on the issue of gender. Indeed, for a long time since we were at Bomas and even in this House, we have been trying to emphasise the need for affirmative action for women, in order to allow 50 per cent plus representation of women in this House. It has been extremely difficult because we have not been able to overcome the gender discrimination and the triviality with which even the general public opinion holds women. We really need to ensure that political parties are required to express support for women. Even the distribution of resources from the Consolidated Fund should accommodate parties that are going to give special consideration to women. Parties that will embrace a policy that supports women should be supported by the Government, so that we deliberately and consciously support women. Otherwise, women will continue to be discriminated by political parties. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we were in Bomas, we tried to encourage the mixed proportion. We asked why political parties cannot have lists of candidates starting for example, with a man, but the second or the third person, can be a woman. If we had a list like that, then we would be sure that women would have a much greater opportunity to be elected as hon. Members of Parliament. Also, if we had that kind of an arrangement, it would be much easier for women to campaign for parties that support them. Having said that, I also want to encourage women to embrace competitive politics. If we do not try as much as possible to compete at the same platform with men, and we over-emphasise the need for us to be nominated or get extra seats, we could easily reduce the importance that is attached to female hon. Members. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, quoting some of our neighbouring countries that have been experimenting with some of these affirmative actions may not be a very good thing. These experiments have not been tried. Let us be creative here in Kenya and introduce our own initiatives that will support women, end discrimination and encourage political parties to support women. Women will definitely support political parties that are willing to support them. I want to emphasise the need for merit. As we get into competitive politics, it is also very important to encourage merit in our politics. Sometimes we forget merit and settle on mediocrity. We do ourselves a lot of harm when we do not recognise talent and quality. In the final analysis, it is that talent that is going to make the difference in the development of our country. I hope that political parties will encourage merit. I am quite sure if they were to look at merit, many women would be in a better position, not only to be elected, but also to serve in positions of power. We do not always have to feel that as women, we have to be specially considered as if we are not as qualified as men. Quite often, women are more qualified, but they are side-lined for reasons that we all know. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, it is extremely important for us as leaders, especially, in political parties, to guard against misuse of power and receding back to the times when democracy was perceived as not being an important issue here. I know that some people can quote many countries which are not necessarily as democratic as we are or which are not in competitive politics, but are doing very well in form of development. That is why I said that multi- party politics does not necessarily mean democracy or development. But since we have made a choice of having a multi-party political system, then it is for us to work very hard to make this April 19, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 805 system work for us. We should make this system the best system for our country. We do not have to follow anybody. We can be creative and that is exactly what this Bill is doing. We should create a political system in our country that works for us. I have been repeating this message often, but I do not think I can repeat it too often; good governance is the foundation of many other issues. We should practise good governance as we know, believe and understand it and get committed. We should put ourselves in the position of others. For example, those of us who are in the Government today, if we put ourselves in the position which we were in, in the last Parliament when we were in the Opposition, we can appreciate why it is very important to practise good governance. In many ways, the NARC Government has demonstrated that good governance is good for everybody. If you go to the country-side, you will hear a lot of people saying that for the first time, they are seeing what the Government is doing. This is mainly because of the CDF. The CDF was created here by the hon. Members. We were trying to practise good governance by making sure that resources are reaching the people at the grassroots level. It is very important for us to practise good governance. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, good governance demands that we promote equitable distribution of resources. Equitable distribution of resources in the country is essential if we want to enjoy peace. We will never have peace, whether in the form of safe streets and homes or riding in safe matatus . We will only have peace if we continue to practise good governance and, consciously, promote equitable distribution of resources. I am sorry to say that Kenya is one of the most unequal countries in the world. Therefore, we should not be surprised that we are also riddled with a lot of conflict in the streets as well as between communities, and sometimes even within communities. So, we need to work very hard, as a Government, people and leaders, and continue to, consciously, promote equitable distribution of resources. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as political parties and leaders, we also need to protect resources. In particular, we must protect our natural resources. This country is very specially endowed with very special natural resources such as wildlife, forests and mountains. There are very few countries in the world which are as endowed with natural resources as Kenya. It is our responsibility, as leaders practising politics, to ensure that these resources are used for the benefit of our people and protected for the benefit of future generations. With those remarks, I support and commend the Minister."
}