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"speaker_name": "Mr. Sungu",
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"legal_name": "Gor Eric Sungu",
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I was carried away. Please, may I apologise to the House, through you, and say that the Leader of Government Business misled this House. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is a very serious matter. If you look at everybody in this House, including me, we are shining. Our faces are shining because we can afford to eat three meals in a day, and yet the people of this country are hungry. Our health facilities and schools are in a mess. Even policemen who escort and defend us are sleeping in single-room roundlets made of mabatis . Some of them are forced to share four families to a room, and yet there are people who dare loot billions of shillings from the common man. That is exactly what worries me. How do these people sleep? How do they talk to their children? What do they tell their grandchildren when the rest of Kenyans are going hungry? There is a particular Ministry through which money that belongs to the people is siphoned out of the country by some Asians. I do not even know what they tell their constituents. It is a shame to all of us, and to me in particular, that we can stand in this House--- I want to challenge any hon. Member of this House to come and defend corruption. I can assure you he will be answerable to the people of Kenya because they will never agree with him. Mr. Speaker, Sir, mine is a simple appeal that we look at this matter on the basis of what our people want and what we were elected for. We should not be seen to be condoning corruption because we are aware of the extent of problems that our people have. However much money you stash away in foreign bank accounts, or even locally, not even a bed of gold will buy you sleep. The people of this country will rise against us if we allow this kind of thing to go on. It does not matter how big our stomachs will grow because nobody can eat much with that kind of money. I do not even know what kind of human beings these people are. They are people who would want to preside over the wanton looting of the property of Kenyans when Kenyans are dying of hunger. If you go to places like Garissa, Mandera, Kisumu, Kajiado and so on, you will find that there are people dying of hunger, and yet there are others in this country who defend corruption. I cannot stand that. Therefore, I want to tell this honourable House that the time is now. This is the time for every hon. Member in this House to be counted, one and all. You may laugh now because tomorrow I may come begging in your office because I am poor, but those riches will haunt you forever. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the time has now come for us to tell the truth because Kenyans must stand to be counted, not only in condemning corruption, but also in making sure that this malaise does not exist with us any more. We must condemn it both in words and action. This is a call to action, that we as hon. Members in this honourable House must remember that Kenyans will hold us accountable. It is possible that together we can save this country if we become serious so that we can condemn and make sure this corruption does not exist in our midst. 406 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 5, 2006 Kenya could sink into a morass. It could sink into unredeemable levels like Somalia and Rwanda because we are sitting on a time bomb. We have many poor people in this country. Even those who are well-educated up to university level cannot get jobs. We are vulnerable. I do not want to be vulnerable because of the actions of a few people. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Government cannot escape this blame because it is in power and it commands the police force. It can direct the KACC and all agencies of the Government at their disposal to make sure that the corrupt are locked in prison. They cannot escape blame. On the same token, they cannot shift blame to any Government including the previous Government. If the Government can identify one person as being corrupt, they should prosecute him or her. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this Report is also very clear on the fact that the President was kept well informed of the Anglo Leasing Project. If there is a duty of responsibility to Kenyans on us as Members of Parliament, I beg to say that there is a bigger and more important responsibility on the President on behalf of Kenyans, because all Kenyans elected him. He is their President. Therefore, it behoves upon the President to take action immediately and sack some of these Ministers who have been mentioned in this Report. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}