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{
    "id": 247568,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/247568/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 426,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Kituyi",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Trade and Industry",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 293,
        "legal_name": "Mukhisa Kituyi",
        "slug": "mukhisa-kituyi"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, one of the biggest challenges that we face as a country, as we attempt to democratise, is to fight the culture of impunity. What was said of scandals in the past is as true of this one as of any other scandal. We are dealing with influence peddlers and informal Government, which fly in the face of rational Government. This debate is not about scoring points between the Government and the Opposition. It is about Kenya fighting for formal Government against informal Government. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the evening of Thursday last week, I arrived at the airport in Nairobi, on board British Airways 065 from London. As I arrived at the airport, there was a fracas going on. My driver who had come to pick me up was involved in restraining one of the Artur brothers who was attempting to pull a gun on a Government officer. I was buoyed because I had had a very good trip after holding a very good meeting with the Administrator of the Millennium Challenge Account. There were prospects of Kenya getting credibility and an official statement from Washington that they are taking the Kenyan Government seriously. However, all of a sudden, I was deflated. I felt a bitterness and a cold in the bottom of my heart. I asked: \"Where is the Government here?\" But there is one thing that was redeeming for me. Before I left the airport, I called hon. Michuki and I told him of the outrage and the shame that I was feeling. He told me: \"You will see that tonight, there will be action to prove that the Government is not behind this madness\". We can have disagreements about the Armenians being sent away or not being taken to court. I would have wanted these guys sent away in February this year. To me, this is evidence that some action was taken. The more fundamental thing that I want to say is the following: All citizens of this country must be interested in the war against impunity. All well-meaning citizens of this country must be interested in the fight against informal Government. The Government must be accountable to the National Assembly and to the population of Kenya. Shadowy characters who peddle assumed influence have to be fought by all of us who want formal accountable Government to be the yard- stick for measuring whether democracy is maturing in this country or not. I take every project as 1308 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 13, 2006 part of the war against the culture of impunity. A culture cannot be defeated by one act. But the cumulative effect of those acts does not pay. Corruption, impunity and misuse of Government resources must be proved."
}