HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 238505,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/238505/?format=api",
"text_counter": 186,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Serut",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Planning and National Development",
"speaker": {
"id": 297,
"legal_name": "John Bomet Serut",
"slug": "john-serut"
},
"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not think that proceedings in our Parliament do not reach our people because of any inhibition or provision in the Act that hinders us from passing this information. I think it is the Parliamentary Service Commission which has delayed renovating this Parliament in order to ensure that our electorate follow the proceedings in Parliament. I want to agree with my colleagues on the issue of freedom of information. Without freedom of information, no development can take place in any country. This freedom must be up to certain limits. You cannot tell me that information to do with national security should just be given because people are in dire need of information. The right to know is a fundamental right to human beings. As we yearn to know, there is also the right not to know everything. If you know everything, then you are not a human being. I believe as human beings, there is a limit to the knowledge you should have. Lack of knowledge has assisted human beings to develop to the stage where we are. I also want to agree that for many years, dissemination of information in this country has been shrouded in secrecy which has led to dictatorship. It is time we ensured that unless the information held by a public office is classified, the public has a right to know. Let it know the correct information. Let us not, as a Government, pass what we call piecemeal information to the public, because this will lead to rumour mongering. At the end of the day, those who want to malign the Government, will use that information for propaganda purposes. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I agree with the Mover of this particular Motion that freedom of information calls for accountability on the part of the Government. I know, from the contributions by some of my colleagues, that because of the information about the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) which is out there, the public does not complain so much about how the money is being used. But when you look at the Local Authorities Transfer Fund (LATF) where information is shrouded in secrecy, nobody knows how the money is spent. I want to confess that I also do not know what the LATF does in my constituency, because I do not see any project which is coming up. Whenever one wants to access any document within the councils, the Town Clerks have become a hinderance. I think this is the kind of information that we require, because I do not think whether there is any Act or provision anywhere that says a Member of Parliament has no right to access information regarding the LATF, Local Authorities Service Delivery Action Plan (LASDAP) or any other devolved fund within a particular constituency. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to emphasize the issue of information being 3000 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 18, 2006 key to making decisions. It is true that without proper information you cannot make any key decision. It is easier as a leader to lead an informed society as opposed to an ignorant one. An ignorant society can easily be misled. I have seen it happen. Since I took over as the Member of Parliament for Mt. Elgon, I have tried as much as possible to pass information to my electorate. Currently, it is easier for me to address any rally, because I now talk to people who have information. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have had so many fora either in Mombasa or outside the country attending conferences. The purpose of all these fora is information. If we sit in boardrooms and workshops to get information, I think it is high time we revisited the Secrets Act, as my colleagues have proposed, and see what to reveal within it. This is because I believe some of what is being referred to as classified information in the Secrets Act is currently not so. The officers who work in the Government should not refuse to pass information to the people, just because they believe it is still classified. The Mover gave a good example - the Occurrence Book. An Occurrence Book is a record of events that take place on a daily basis. I agree with the Mover when he asks: \"What is so secretive about who has been arrested, over what crime and where he has been taken? Has he or she been released on bond?\" Why is the public being denied that information? If there are any officers who are still doing that, I think it is for ulterior motives. That, I believe, is corruption. If the Minister of State for Administration and National Security is hearing this, that information should be made public at any time in any police station. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, regarding information to do with public or national security--- National security is paramount to all of us. I believe that when a Bill for freedom of information is brought to this House, we should be able to sit down, as leaders, and see what we want to put in that particular Bill. What should become public information and what should not. I say that because the oath of office is based on information flow. We take oath for purposes of information. Our credibility is gauged by how much of the information that we receive is passed on to the public. How much is passed and how much is not. Information is what is used by the electorate to gauge what kind of leadership you can give to your people. So, I look at information as a key to our life, development, what we are and what we will be in future. With those few remarks, I want to thank the Mover of this particular Motion and say that, once it is passed, he should bring a Bill as soon as possible I support."
}