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{
"id": 259001,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/259001/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "56 Tuesday, 20th December, 2011 Mr. Baiya",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was on the point where I was trying to emphasize to honorable colleagues that, under the new Constitution, the fight against corruption is, indeed, a key pillar in terms of delivery of the other ingredients against corruption. Unless this country reckons with the menace of corruption, there is no doubt that no gains will be realized in all the rest, including upholding of human rights and making decisive inroads against poverty in this country and so on. It is not really something that one can emphasize. Every year, the Government comes up with policies, guidelines and blue prints of programmes that it intends to roll out; only for the implementation, itself, to fail to achieve the goals or policies that the Government had in mind, thanks to corruption. We have seen projects that actually fail because of poor implementation or non- implementation and the core reason is the menace called corruption. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, under the new dispensation, accountability by Members of Parliament is through the electoral framework. Under the new dispensation, where we are going to have non-elected secretaries serving in the Cabinet, the threat of that menace becoming uncontrolled is real. That is why a very vibrant Anti-Corruption Authority is very important. I have no doubt in my mind that a serious Anti-Corruption Commission would not focus on the history before the new Constitution. Its main focus ought to be on effective implementation of the on-going budget process to ensure that there is efficiency and effective utilization of Government resources. So, it would be very disheartening if this House was to fail in terms of its obligation to implement the new Constitution and to ensure that there is a strong and effective Anti-Corruption Commission. Mr. Speaker, Sir, when we were faced with the three candidates who were earmarked to head this new Commission, I want to assure this House that the personalities involved or their ethnicity was far from our minds when we looked at them. Our concern was what kind of values and character they add and how they would fit into the new dispensation and particularly their ability to shepherd the new Commission under the new dispensation. I must say that, that is what we were looking for. When we talk about passion, drive and initiative, these are attributes of people we are relying upon to drive the new values under Chapter six, Article 73, of the new Constitution. In Chapter Six, Article 73 on leadership and integrity - it is a requirement that integrity will be critical in leadership, overall. The Commission that will be in charge of enforcing integrity will be the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. This is one Commission which cannot afford to have a candidate who can be questioned in any of these parameters. Integrity is one and the other one is suitability for the office. That is why we are saying that we found these candidates, as much as they are Kenyans and are qualified in their own right, in terms of the threshold that would bring them in the purview of Chapter Six, we found them wanting. The Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, notwithstanding its challenges and difficulties in the past, had no difficulty in making a unanimous resolve that we must advise this House that these candidates are not suitable and we must refer them back to the Executive with recommendations that they give us candidates who are suitable. I would like to urge this House to bear in mind that the concern about corruption is not simply a concern of this House but a concern of Kenyans everywhere. The real victims of corruption are the people who are supposed to receive services from the"
}