HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 273421,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/273421/?format=api",
"text_counter": 289,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Raila",
"speaker_title": "The Prime Minister",
"speaker": {
"id": 195,
"legal_name": "Raila Amolo Odinga",
"slug": "raila-odinga"
},
"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, hon. Kioni said that the Mungiki were killed. Yes, quite a number of innocent people also lost their lives in the process. This is because when you are shooting, there is nobody with any signs written on their faces saying that this is a Mungiki member. Once somebody is dead, you will never know because they will only put guns next to the body and say: “This is a criminal who has been sought by the agencies for a long time.” That is what it was then. Two wrongs do not make a right. I want the hon. Member to know that there are quite a number of members of MRC who are right now in prison. This is one of the conditions they are putting to the Government, that all their members must be released and that they must be recognised by the Government before they can talk to it. So, it is not true that there are double standards. The standards have been very uniform. The security agencies have been dealing with all these organisations in a similar manner. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am personally very much against the use of force, particularly the use of weapons like guns to deal with issues which are of political nature. Political problems require political solutions, and not armed solutions. That is why I am suggesting the route of negotiations. As to whether the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) has given them audience, I do not know. I have no evidence. I know that they have sent a petition to the UK Government. This is a misguided notion that “mwambao” was Coast because this group is talking about “pwani”. The agreement that was in place was between the Government of the UK, the then Government of the Sultan of Zanzibar and the Government of Kenya as at that time, led by Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, first, there was a letter written by the then Prime Minister of Kenya and another letter written by the then Prime Minister of Zanzibar, a Mr. Shamte. There was, finally an agreement which was signed that denounced all other former claims that were arising from the agreements of 1890 and 1895, which had ceded that strip to the British administration. It was then annexed to Kenya and became fully part of the Republic of Kenya. Therefore, we have nothing to do with the Government of the UK. Mr. Ogindo raised the issue of whether the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) has heard the grievances from all these groups, or whether they can be heard and have their issues addressed. These groups can only be embraced and be heard by the TJRC if they renounce their criminal activities. That is when they can be brought to the negotiating table and people can talk to them. Until that happens, there will be no room for negotiations Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, hon. Affey also said that the Government should tone down the high handedness in dealing with these groups and embrace dialogue. I could not agree with him more. I totally agree that we should renounce force in dealing with groups that are probably just airing grievances of the society at this point in time and travel the route of dialogue. That is what we are doing. That is why I am addressing Parliament on this subject. On the matter raised by hon. Nuh, I confirm that we have been negotiating with the people of Lamu. We started negotiating with them when this project was coming, but I have said that we have addressed issues across the board. Only last month, I restored to the people of Kwale the title deed of the Kongo Mosque, which had been grabbed. The Minister for Lands revoked the title and we handed it over to the management of Kongo Mosque in Kwale. So, these issues are being addressed. A team has been to Malindi and Kilifi, and the hon. Members from those areas can actually confirm. So, it is true that the Government is addressing the historical injustices not only all over the Coast Province but also around the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is true that around campaign times, there are lots of promises that abound. Politicians make promises in a desire to get votes from the people. However, this is not the case with regard to the MRC. This has nothing to do with politicians trying to get the votes there. I mentioned in my Statement that this group is canvassing the people not to register as voters in the Coast. They are urging the people to boycott the elections. This can be very counter-productive as it will disenfranchise a number of people in that region. That is why we see it as our responsibility to address this issue specifically. I know that some Members of Parliament from the Coast are afraid of speaking on this subject for fear that they will lose votes from amongst the electorate but I know that the issues that have been raised here are very genuine, and that they need to be addressed, if we are to have free and fair elections at the Coast. That is why this issue must be addressed. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, I just want to inform hon. Baiya that in an election, we actually give the people an opportunity to chose their leaders. This is done in this country through political parties. So, political parties are the instruments for peaceful brokering of competitive political ideas. That is why we are saying that political parties must be organised along the ideological lines that they represent. Political parties short of clear and concrete ideology are not political parties. So, political parties that say we should unite with this party, not on the basis of policy but on basis of personalities are bankrupt and do not deserve their names. We would like to see political parties graduate to the platform of ideologies. So, let us disagree along ideologies. Let us not hate each other merely because they come from this community or from this other community. Let us also not say that this region belongs to this group and this other region belongs t o this group. Every group and every party has a right to canvas the votes and support throughout the Republic of Kenya. Thank you."
}