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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Presidential Address, to which everybody in the country listened to very carefully. There are contentious issues that emanate from what we call reconciliation and dialogue as have been addressed by the Leader of the Official Opposition. In his Speech, the President identified issues which the Government has to improve on. It is, indeed, intelligent to tell Kenyans to hold together. Again, there is the admonition that he asked for this House, which also the Speaker emphasised. The integrity of this country belongs, and is bestowed to this House. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, what we have seen in the past is obviously embarrassing to this House. I am talking about the attitude of Members of Parliament, particularly those from the Opposition. Is withdrawing from a Parliamentary Committee dialogue? Is that intelligent? Is that healing? Is that the reconciliation we are looking for? How can this House handle issues that are supposed to be polished by the Committee? A forest can change but the animals remain the same. Kenyans who fought for the Independence of this country from colonialism are imperialists themselves, because what they say is not what they do. It is a question that I have underlined from the President's Speech. The President is one man while Kenya has 31 million people. The President did not address the issue of displacement of people when he talked about the economy of this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I must emphasize to this House, and it is vehemently clear, that there is no vocabulary that can describe the genesis of tribal clashes in this country. What do we mean by saying that the country's economy is growing when that growth is not being felt by the people? The economic empowerment of this country is not for the people by the people with the people themselves. We need fraternity in this country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is not politicking outside this House that will bring stability in this country. It is not by way of whims that we will correct the mistakes that have been made in this country. My people in Trans Nzoia District are still crying. They need food and shelter. Children have no way of knowing their ancestral homes because they were displaced by the Government. If one Government makes mistakes, and another Government comes to make other mistakes, we will have no way of making a right in future. What kind of future do we have for Kenya? It is true that charity begins at home. Charity must begin from this House. This the august House and when we come here, we are legislators. We do not want to uphold politics and political differences. When we are in Parliament, we are supposed to be thinkers. We are supposed to be legislators. It is embarrassing for an argument to arise here and spill over to the streets. When hon. March 28, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 115 Members fail to reason together in this House, and go out to demonstrate, that is thinking aloud, which is immoral. We have to have a way of modelling Kenya. We must support the presidency. If we do not respect the institution of the presidency, anybody else who will occupy that seat in future will have to do the same things his predecessor did. We will have the same person admonish corruption and do it at the same time. You cannot say that what happened in the past, and what happened recently, should be forgotten, so that we build a new Kenya. Where will you do it? My people are still in the streets. They are displaced and hungry. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, why do we have tribal clashes in Likia? What happened to the Akiwumi Report on tribal clashes? Where is the Kiliku Report? Where is the Ndungu Report? These are the three questions this House must address. It is not a question of sitting back and talking about the documents, the presidency and what have you. We are a creation of animosity in the country. It is very interesting to note that what we talk about is exactly the opposite of our own appearance. We do not do what we pledge to do. Why can we not be action-oriented rather than give lip service? We are empty drums in the streets. We are being called names. Why should a Member of Parliament be called names when he or she is supposed to be a legislator? We are judged by our dressing. Let us be judged by our behaviour. In that case, we will uphold unity. Why do we breach the Constitution? We have been ruled under a British model Constitution but we are now changing it. If we have to change it, why can we not be thorough? Why can we not scrutinise the areas we want changed? Do we have to argue and fight about it before we come to a conclusion? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is my belief and sincere hope that hon. Members of the Ninth Parliament came to this House with sobriety. We have a case to answer to the nation of this country. It is not the numerous political parties being formed that will make Kenya better. Those are mere religious sectors or sport clubs. We have to uphold what is important for our people. Our people desire peace and good governance. I talked about corruption in the Civil Service. There has never been a commission which allowed civil servants to engage in business and at the same time serve the Government. There is no man who can serve two masters at the same time. If you try to do so, you will hate one master and love the other. Civil servants love money and hate serving the Government. If civil servants are better remunerated than their counterparts in the private service, you will never see corruption in the Civil Service even if you deny them the right to engage in private business. It is very interesting when it comes to civil servants being told to declare their wealth. Some of them have been in the Civil Service long enough. They have fought for their rights and have their own wealth. Others joined the Civil Service recently but they are richer than some Members of Parliament. We should, therefore, address the root cause of corruption. Let the Ndegwa Commission be abolished in this country. Let civil servants be non-political, so that they can effectively serve any Government that comes to power. Why do we over-burden them? I say this with a lot of concern. I want to emphasise this because our borders are porous. With those few remarks, I support the Motion."
}