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"id": 253922,
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"speaker_name": "Ms. Karua",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs",
"speaker": {
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"legal_name": "Martha Wangari Karua",
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"content": "Let us also stop blame-game. We are all to blame. Therefore, we need to correct the mess we have created in and out of the House. This is a course for unity of purpose and for a minimum agenda for this country that will then make it better for us to compete. Agreeing to a minimum agenda does not mean that we have returned to a one-party State. It just means that we are responsible and patriotic leaders who can identify issues that are so grave and important for this nation that need bipartisan support to go through. Mr. Speaker, Sir, a time has come when this august House--- If we do not want to be April 6, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 435 relegated to irrelevance, we will have to take up this responsibility. Speaking to many honourable Members, I am glad that there is now a mood to rise up to this occasion and we are not saying that anybody is to blame. However, we realise that there is a problem and we need to rise up and do what we need to do. Going back to the Report, I have indicated that as, a Government, we support all the recommendations in this Report. However, I would be failing in my duty if I did not explain a little about the role of a Minister. I am sure that most honourable Members, and especially those who have served in Government before, know the workings of Government. What is the role of a Minister? In this Report, on page 43, Section 22 (3) of the Constitution it is cited, but not in full. It reads thus: \"The Minister has the responsibility to exercise direction and control over his Ministry.\" Actually, the proper wording is, \"general direction and control\" and that is at the policy level. The day-to-day person, according to that Section, knows that each Government department is under the supervision of a Permanent Secretary. So, there are two people in the Ministry: A Minister and a Permanent Secretary. What are their roles? Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is true that sometimes a Minister will be given documents to look at for approval. I want to agree that it is the responsibility of the Minister to look at those documents as he approves them. However, we also work on the basis of trust. I cannot become my own Permanent Secretary. I cannot do the work my technical officers do. I can ask questions and especially when an irregularity has been brought to fore, I can call for the entire file and read it from back to back. However, on an everyday basis, operations of Government are possible because we work on the basis of trust. This is not to minimise the responsibility of each person, be it a Minister or a Permanent Secretary, to do their work diligently. Therefore, until there is clear evidence of involvement and which gives rise to suspicion, we are obliged to take each other at the face value and also take it that we are all working towards a common purpose. We, therefore, recognise that it is possible for a person to be duped, but it is also possible for a person to be recruited into an illegal activity. That is why we are submitting to investigations. In this Government, there are no sacred cows. All the Ministers and civil servants in the Ministries concerned have already submitted themselves to investigations including the Leader of Government Business. As a Government, we have done all we could do to facilitate even the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in its work. However, we urge for patience. We urge that Members of this House desist from attempting to lynch one another and to short-circuit the due process. If someone is involved, the day of reckoning will still come. So, why would we want to short-circuit the due process? Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have looked at this Report especially on page 42. There is nowhere in the entire Report where His Excellency the President has been implicated. It is very sad that some of us and the media have actually said categorically that the President has been implicated in this Report. Are you truly a patriotic Kenyan? Are you being fair? There are some things you even do not wish on your enemy. Who would want to be accused falsely of matters of this nature? Let us take our responsibilities seriously. Since this Report is now in the public domain I would like to urge media to read page 42 of the Report and stop falsely accusing the Head of State and maligning his person. I beg the indulgence of the House to read this paragraph because I think it is a very serious issue. It reads as follows:- \"The Committee accepts Mr. Githongo's evidence that he regularly briefed the President on the Anglo Leasing contract and the related contract from the time Anglo Leasing became the subject of a parliamentary query.\" 436 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 6, 2006 How then does one say that the Report implicates the President? He was briefed from the time investigations arose because of a parliamentary query. He was briefed on the progress of investigations. His Excellency the President and the Government have taken action. Colleagues have given way for investigations to take place. People have been arraigned in court and audit is ongoing. You will realise that it requires very extensive work to uncover these kind of transactions, because it is not one. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I cannot categorically state before this House that we have even been able to weed out all those connected to this scandal. Investigations are still ongoing and we are seeking the support of everyone. We are afraid that there may be people holding office who are involved in this scandal; civil servants and others, who may still be dealing with Anglo Leasing type of businessmen. We need to summon our collective will, not just as a Government, but as Parliament and as people of this nation to fight with this monster. I would hate to think that some of those involved may be the ones now maligning others wrongly when this Report does not say so. The Report further states:- \"In support of this, the Committee accepts the memorandum tendered in evidence by Mr. Githongo which is sent to the President as a brief on the Anglo Leasing contract.\" I need not read all of this, but it is quite clear that arising from all that, the Report then says:- \"The fact that top civil servants were sacked on the authority of the President, clearly points to adequate information having been provided to him.\" At what stage was this information provided? This was done from the time Anglo Leasing became the subject of a parliamentary query. Let us be honourable and truthful. Let us not be peddlers of falsehoods. If you feel that the Government has not done adequately since discovering this scandal, say so. But do not try to say that the President knew of the illegal dealings when they were going on when you very well know, and it is in black and white, that he was not part of it nor does this Report implicate him. Mr. Speaker, Sir, when you malign the Head of State of your country, unfortunately you malign yourself. When you destroy institutions that govern your country or offices that you desire to occupy the next day, you malign yourself. Let us rise above petty politics. That is not to say that we should abdicate from the duty of correcting what has gone wrong. That is a duty we must guard jealously. We must be able to speak truthfully all the time then we shall be taken seriously by Kenyans. Let us compete on the basis of ideas not rumours, insults or falsehoods. Parliament should be a market place of ideas but not rumours. I am urging my colleagues that we should have a new start where we deal with issues seriously. We should return honour to ourselves and the House so that we may truly be honourable. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is worth noting that the President directed Mr. Githongo to investigate who Mr. Kettering was. You heard what the Leader of the Official Opposition said that even civil servants who had said that they dealt with Mr. Kettering, all of a sudden claimed they did not know him. He ordered things to be done after he heard the report on the investigations. That is what this Report says. The media and those who have peddled falsehoods owe an apology to His Excellency the President. Let us respect institutions and be fair to one another. I have seen the code of practice of journalism in Kenya. One of the cardinal rules is to be fair and accurate. A self-respecting media must not deliberately distort or subvert contents that are in black and white. I hope that this will get to the respective boards, managers and editors, so that an apology and a correction will be forthcoming. I am not seeking an order of the Chair. I am leaving it to your good conscience and to any other lawful action that can be taken in the circumstances of this case. April 6, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 437 Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have also looked at this Report on matters touching on the Leader of Government Business, the Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs, under whose docket the Immigration Department was. I must again begin by saying that he has subjected himself to investigations which are ongoing. But it is good to set the record straight. I have also looked at the minutes and the HANSARD report of the Committee. The Report says on page 43 that there is abundant evidence on record that the Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs was, contrary to his evidence before the Committee, sufficiently involved in the implementation of Anglo Leasing contract as to take responsibility for his shortcoming. Does that not pre-judge ongoing investigations? That takes us back to the question. I am not going to give conclusions here. What are the responsibilities of a Minister? Can a Minister do some technical work? The Committee, in the body of that page, has referred us to a memo that was given to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs on 8th September, 2003 by His Excellency the Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs. That memo has been reproduced in summary. But when you look at the memo in full - and it is available in the exhibits that form part of the Committee's Report--- It is just one paragraph. I beg the indulgence of the House to read it. The subject is: Immigration, Security and Document Control Systems Project. It reads:-"
}