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"id": 248630,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/248630/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Ms. Karua",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 166,
"legal_name": "Martha Wangari Karua",
"slug": "martha-karua"
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"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the hon. Member, who has just come in apparently, may not have been listening. I have not said hon. Members of Parliament are not serious. I, as an hon. Member of Parliament and the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, I am giving my views on how May 31, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1041 we can strengthen the war against graft. Unless the hon. Member is suggesting that there is nothing more we can do to improve, then he would not be objecting to what I am saying. There is nothing good in my view that is incapable of being improved. Yes, this Parliament has facilitated the creation of a legal framework for the fight against graft by passing the Public Officer Ethics and Conduct Act, the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, and I know also, the Public Procurement and Disposal Act. I know this Parliament has made its contribution, but there is more that can be done by this Parliament, each individual hon. Member, each Kenyan and the Government. We are trying our best to improve and be innovative on a daily basis because we realise the war against graft is not something that can be won easily without daily attention and improvement of the strategies, and without collective and collaborative effort. I am, therefore, calling upon all hon. Members to join hands to treat this as a bipartisan issue, so that we win this war. I would like to emphasise that the way to win the war against graft is not by creating unnecessary bureaucracy and super-imposing committees on top of existing committees, but it is by seeing where we can tighten and strengthen what is happening. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the reports of this House over the last decade, especially those of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Public Investments Committee (PIC), have recommended that many people should not hold public offices. However, the same individuals have found their way as hon. Members of Parliament. We, therefore, must wonder: If Parliament can recommend, in its resolutions, that certain individuals should not hold public offices, and those individuals end up being hon. Members of Parliament, perhaps, instead of this Motion, we should be passing a law on how to implement recommendations of those committees to ensure that those who are barred from holding public office never find their way to leadership positions. That is one of my suggestions on how to help the war against graft, rather than create a committee that will duplicate three other existing committees. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like once again to emphasise that there is a lot we can do. However, is this the best way to do it? My answer is \"no\". I want to persuade the Mover, who is my very good friend, and knowing the Motion is well intended, that this is not the best way of aiding the war against graft. We, as Parliament, should sit together to see how best we can strengthen the existing committees. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in conclusion, I would like to urge all hon. Members with ideas, to kindly take them to the relevant Departmental Committees. Let us, as Parliament, come up with concrete measures to strengthen the war against corruption. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with these very many remarks, I beg to oppose this Motion."
}