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"speaker_name": "Mr. J. Nyagah",
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, the father of the Leader of the Official Opposition at Independence told us to forgive the past but not to forget it. These were very important words for a nation like Kenya. They are important to us because a time has come when we must forgive the past and not forget it. I wrote an article recently on this subject. We must forgive the past and not forget it. We have been wronged. Our children are walking in the streets with no food, because of corruption. Our youths have no jobs, because of corruption and we all agree on these things. But I have a problem. For how long is this going to continue? I would like to suggest the following things. First, we should strengthen the Anti- Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, so that it can become stronger than it is. We have passed a law but it is not doing what we expected it to do. For instance, we need to do what other countries have done. We need to get to a point, in my view, where we should negotiate with people who have taken money out of this country. We need to negotiate with people who have acquired illegal assets. Theft of public assets has taken place over the last 50 years, and a lot of our money has been stolen. A lot of money has been taken out of our country. We are suffering even though we are arguing here politically. What we need to do, and I have written on this authoritatively, is to strengthen this Act, so that we formally and officially tackle this matter. With the oversight role of this House, we must move forward. Using the good recommendations made by the PAC, we can negotiate with people from previous regimes and people in this regime. We have to draw a line, and say from now on, if you are caught stealing you will be jailed for over 20 years. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this happened in countries like Pakistan, Ukraine and others. People have returned more resources and money into their countries than was expected by their Governments. Those countries have since become a little richer than they were before their asset recovery laws were passed. If necessary, I will try to propose an amendment to our Act, so that we can officially reclaim stolen wealth. There are rumours that people might bring back money and then some other people may grab it and treat it as their own. This fear creates a difficult situation. That is one issue we must look into, if we are to address this matter in a serious manner. The second category is that of those who have stolen and become very rich. These people should be identified. We have already identified some of them. We read newspapers everyday. We should go after their assets aggressively. We should grab those assets. Since they have refused to co-operate, we should not only grab everything we know of, but also the money in their bank accounts overseas and make them public property of Kenyans. We should then jail them for 20 years. It is important for us to have a \"carrot and stick\" policy. This is what has happened where other countries faced the situation we are facing today. Mr. Speaker, Sir, even if you took over as the President tomorrow, you would not deal with court cases effectively because they are too many. So if we do that, this country will be rich in resources. People will have learned a lesson and we will have done what we were told at Independence, to forgive but not to forget. That is the only way in which we can move ahead. We must get to a point where we draw a line in order to make progress. I am not supporting corruption. I am not supporting what has been done. Some people must pay for it. Before a nation takes a leap, some people, who have committed wrongs, must pay for them. There is no doubt in mind my that, unfortunately, a few people will have to suffer. If the culture of corruption is to be replaced with a no-corruption culture, some people must pay dearly for that change. That is a price we all have to pay, unfortunately. That is a price a nation must pay. It is part of growing up that we must go through Mr. Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I wish to end my contribution to give other hon. Members a chance to also contribute. I hope I have provided a way forward for this nation. April 6, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 429"
}