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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support this Motion. I want to start by really thanking His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya, hon. Mwai Kibaki, for doing a good job for this country as he concludes his presidential term. You will all remember that when we elected our President, the very first time, this country was considered one of the countries with the highest level of optimism in the whole world. We have seen the benefits of this presidency. We have seen infrastructure improve. Somebody who has been to Nyeri and has not been in town, say, for the last five years will require some special escort to help him navigate himself or herself around the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, our President has made our country remain steadfast in the limelight, and continue with the legacy for which the late Nyerere used to tell people that they did not need to go to Europe; they should just go to Nairobi and see the skyscrapers and how cities work. I also want to applaud the President for the Free Primary Education (FPE) and the partial bursary for secondary schools, and more importantly the Constitution. I think there is no other legacy of this President apart from the fact that for the last 20 years we were unable to get a new Constitution, but President Kibaki, under his able leadership which is willing to allow institutions to work without interference and showing vested interests, has demonstrated that you can actually create an enabling environment as a Head of State and institutions will work. As we appreciate that, this is basically a farewell Speech to the nation and the House. The President has also appreciated the fact that Kenya remains a unitary State. There is no doubt in mind that those of us who, particularly, come from the frontier districts of this nation, are continuously challenged by whether the territorial integrity of the country means the same thing as enjoying the benefits of belonging to the country. While I agree that the unity of the country is paramount, we must also look into why certain sections of this nation do not feel they are part of this Kenya. Why should people from northern Kenya and Turkana say that they are coming to Kenya? Why should people from North Eastern Province--- For the last ten years of Kibaki’s presidency they are still saying that the only tarmacked stretch of road in North Eastern Province is the 11 kilometres in Garissa. Why should the people in the coastal are in this day and age, in the 21st century be talking about the Sultan, Seyyid, or the coastal strip? This is an indictment of the economic policies that we are pursuing. The good things we are doing are concentrated in particular areas. This is a demonstration of flawed Government policies that have failed in terms of the trickledown effects. The new Constitution has now empowered this nation in terms of human rights in particular, and no Kenyan must die for lack of food. No Kenyan must die because of thirst. I can see the Minister for Water and Irrigation, hon. Charity Ngilu here. It means that when hon. Ngilu is building the dams and digging boreholes, they must be widely distributed; boreholes must also be found in northern Kenya. Why should people in Turkana be water tankering? Why should people in Mandera be water tankering in this day and age? This is what is going to confront the legacy of the President of the Republic of Kenya. This is what the President must appreciate. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President did not talk about corruption in spite of the fact that one of his pronouncements was that Kenya was going to be free of corruption, and that corruption was not to be a way of life. Only yesterday, we heard of the NHIF scandal! Previously, there was the Maize scandal! The skeletons are coming out of the cupboards in the Office of the Prime Minister, the Presidency and in all the Ministries you know of, yet the President did not mention this. We want to see heads rolling. We are very quick to refer to Singapore as a model for development in relation to Vision 2030, but people in Singapore also took a deliberate decision that those who were in power must abide by a certain code; if somebody was found to be corrupt then he would be killed, if not, you commit suicide. The post election violence (PEV) is going to be another blow to this presidency. It happened; we want to forgive each other and proceed. We want to deal with our issues including the ICC cases in this country. On that one, as a member and Chairman of the AMANI Forum, I support that our region must be free of conflicts. However, the greatest legacy now that the President has asked us to elect competent leaders is that he must also start by appointing competent Ministers to the Cabinet. We must ensure that in the next general election the President takes responsibility. The fact that chaos took place when we had a President sitting pretty is a big indictment of this presidency. I want to tell him that he will never get a second chance to do things. This is the final chance. Let the President take charge in the next general election. He should make sure that no single Kenyan is displaced or dispossessed because of exercising a democratic right to elect a person of their choice. He must ensure that all candidates are free to campaign wherever they want to. This country is balkanized, and you need permission to go to Nyanza Province. I need permission to go to Coast Province or Central Province. There is no justification for people of the Turkana community to refuse others to come and campaign in Turkana. I lead by example. I invite everybody to come to Turkana. Whether I support you or not, nobody will throw a stone at you. We did not participate in the PEV. What we know is that we will watch you and deny you the votes if you are not the preferred candidate. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to support."
}