HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 227276,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/227276/?format=api",
"text_counter": 200,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Capt. Nakitare",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 348,
"legal_name": "Davis Wafula Nakitare",
"slug": "davis-nakitare"
},
"content": "I am concerned with the disparity in this assembly. We should look at the broader issues. What international relationships are we looking at? Does Kenya stand to benefit from ACP Assembly? We go there for a purpose which is to embrace unity of different Parliaments. In our constitution making process, we borrowed a lot from the British Constitution because we were their colony. Should we continue adoring the British Constitution? We need to April 10, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 475 wake up and formulate our home grown constitution. By so doing, we would be proud to be Kenyans with our own constitution. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Barbados is in the Caribbean Islands. What do they grow? What technology do they have that Kenya does not have? These are the contrasts that we need to address. I am convinced that this assembly is important to our country. It started in 1963 when Kenya attained Independence. We had to embrace it just like other countries within the Commonwealth. However, at this stage, we must be careful about the gains of such an assembly. It is very interesting to note that our colleagues from other parliaments know this country better than us. They are very knowledgeable about our country. It baffles me when I am asked a question by a foreigner about some places in this country and I am unable to answer. We claim to be scholars, but we are not. Legislation is scholarly. We are legislators. Are Kenyan legislators ready to lobby for an international seat? We must join hands with ACP Parliamentarians to lobby for seats in the United Nations (UN). I was in New York and I saw how people from other countries lobby for international seats. Kenyans have never had a good opportunity to do so. It baffles me because a lot of UN jobs are occupied by our fellows from West Africa. Does it mean that we do not have graduates in this country who can serve in the African Desk in the United Nations? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we can achieve a lot as legislators, but the time is against us. We are only good when we serve as hon. Members for a given session. We do very well during our term, but when we are voted out, we go home with our knowledge. All that knowledge we have acquired for five years goes to waste. The newcomers start from a clean leaf. Sometimes, they do not even know what goes on in this House. That is how we forfeit our chance of getting top UN seats. The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) is a good example here. Our Parliament could have lobbied for the position of Speaker, but because of unforeseen circumstances, we lost it. It is a pity that we look ugly in the eyes of the world. What comes out of our mouths is what defiles us. That is exactly what has happened. We go out there to argue, strip ourselves naked and wash our dirty linen in public. This matter was supposed to have been discussed conclusively in this House. What went wrong? What kind of shame have we brought to our country? What if there was a position for us in ACP Assembly? Would we have washed our dirty linen in Vienna? Charity begins at home. There must be some sobriety in this House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is only the Kenyan Parliament which has young Members. If you go to Russia, for example, you will see legislators who are over 55 years old. They have knowledge and experience. We know an hon. Member aged 35 years old is not as knowledgeable and experienced as a 55 years old legislator. What experience does he have internationally? How can he make laws when he does not even know how laws are made? We know that laws are made after the crime has been committed. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we need to uphold the dignity of this House. It is a fallacy for us to introduce ourselves as hon. Members from Kenya Parliament if we do not uphold integrity. The integrity of this House must override our personal interests. That is the only way we can proudly introduce ourselves as hon. Members. The title of \"Honourable Member\" is not used in other countries. For example, our colleagues from Uganda wonder why we normally refer to ourselves as hon. Members. They ask us why we do not simply refer to ourselves by our names. Who are you honourable to? These are areas where people are challenged when we go out there with titles that are not applicable in other countries. So, these are the areas that we need to discuss here. Of course, it is a good Report, but it calls for a lot of sobriety. We should have used this kind of forum to fight disarmament in Africa, international terrorism and alleviate poverty by comparison. Why do we have to go out there to attend the 476 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 10, 2007 African Caribbean, Pacific and the European Union (ACP-EU) meetings, if we cannot come back home with a harvest? The only harvest that hon. Members of Parliament can bring is the knowledge they gain from those conferences, that would benefit people in different parts of the country, including those in Saboti Constituency and Trans Nzoia District in general. If they do so, we will say: \"Yes, we have overcome.\" I have a dream that some day, Kenya will feed the entire Africa, because we have good soil. If we can only teach our children how to use their hands and go back to be labour intensive; produce more and sell the surplus--- Those are the dreams that we need to have in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we travel with imprests from Parliament, which have to be paid back through the knowledge that we bring back. I hope that we do not go overseas to do shopping, but to interact and get knowledge. However, that knowledge must not be brought to Parliament and kept in the archives. How many of our people in the streets know what this movement is doing? How many of them read the documents that are tabled in this House? If many of them do not access them, then we are not transparent. Once a document has been tabled here, it is called the property of the House. Not even the media has access to most of these documents. Research has been done and it beats me if parliamentarians can be used as rubber stamps. There are cases where people come here to do scientific research and they go away with old thesis. We do not even understand the scripts. Years later, when issues arise, reports are written from overseas and imposed on Kenyans and then they are told that this is what is supposed to be done. This is not an acrobatic showground, but a national Parliament. So, I think it is high time that we, as hon. Members of Parliament, disseminated the knowledge that we get through these kind of fora, back to our constituencies. I would have shared this information with my people in Saboti Constituency, so that those people in Kimagut caves, could know that fighting is not a way of solving issues. They would know that ancestral land issues can only be discussed and solved by tribal elders, but not by bows and arrows, or the muzzle of the gun. The shame is on us. The scenes that we watch on television channels are pathetic. Hon. Members of Parliament have to rise up and discuss peace in this country. Let us not allow our military or soldiers to go to the streets to quell uprisings or violence. These uprisings actually originate from our own mouths. The statements that we sent out there are alarming. If we go out of the country and chest-beat and say that we are from Kenya, we will be asked: \"Have the clashes stopped? What is happening in Mt. Elgon?\" What would you say if you were asked those kinds of questions during an ACP-EU conference and after being given a paper on international security to present? These are the issues that we need to address. Charity begins at home while fraternity and stability start from us; but not from Heaven. They say socio-species of identical plumage and birds of the same feather flock together; that is the translation. We are birds of the same feather under the ACP. But we have a problem back home. Today it is in Imenti, but tomorrow it will be Eldoret. The other day it was in Mt. Elgon and tomorrow it will be in Mombasa. We do not want to have these ugly incidents. Departments are under Ministries, while Ministries are under Parliament. The Executive is not above this Parliament. Therefore, the time has come when we have to say \"no\" and enough is enough to the Executive. Why do we have human rights organizations? Are they good preachers than religious people? Are they more concerned about life than the preachers at the pulpit? I have never seen a human rights movement talking about Jesus Christ. They want to liberate criminals and interfere with justice. This is the section of life that we are looking at saying: \"Democracy is good, but not good enough.\" We have our own African socialism, where a father walks with a walking stick. He has many wives, but they and the children respect him. The wives are subjects of the husband. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}