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{
"id": 289332,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/289332/?format=api",
"text_counter": 192,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Raila",
"speaker_title": "The Prime Minister",
"speaker": {
"id": 195,
"legal_name": "Raila Amolo Odinga",
"slug": "raila-odinga"
},
"content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was responding to the question as put by the hon. Member for Gwasi, who urged that we should lobby Members, so that we get the numbers. I said that hon. Members are patriotic enough, and we do not have to go to the extent of lobbying them. I said that I will assume that getting the two-third majority will be a matter of course. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I, however, said that only those Members who are not patriotic--- Only those Members who are anti the Constitution will vote against these two Bills. The hon. Member does not want to find himself in that position. That is what I said, so that I can be understood properly. The hon. Member then further talked about the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, which was withdrawn and then the appointment of County Commissioners. My position on those two incidences is known. My understanding is that this is an administrative matter which should be done under the Provincial Administration Act and not under the new Constitution. As things stand right now, the relevant section of the Constitution has not yet come into force. Therefore, that could not have been the law that was being applied when the appointments were made. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, regarding the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, once again through consultations between myself and the Attorney-General, the Bill was withdrawn. It means that the Government is reading from the same page; both sides of the Government are talking the same language. Mr. Njuguna, the Member for Lari wanted to know the preventive measures being put in place, including the enhancement of response capacity. I would like to inform the hon. Member that the Government is trying to be preventive rather than reactive. That is why we are putting a lot of money into modern equipment to be able to track the perpetrators of these crimes in our country, so that we can nip them in the bud before they carry out their deadly activities. So, I would like to assure hon. Members that everything possible is being done to enhance the capacity of our security forces to deal with these criminals. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to Dr. Khalwale’s concern, yes, politicians draw crowds and I am also a politician. When I go to these scenes, I go to urge the people to stay away. Indeed, that is what I did the day before yesterday when I arrived at the scene; the first thing I told wananchi was to clear the area so that the security forces and experts including bomb experts could have an opportunity to do their work professionally. I also urged and informed them that by crowding and walking in the scene, they also interfere with the evidence. So this is what I did but I agree with the hon. Member that politicians should not walk close to the area. If a politician goes to the area, they should stand away and urge members of the public to move away from the scene because as I have said, all over the world, it is known that some of these attacks are programmed. They are programmed so that the first explosion is just aimed at drawing attention and drawing the public to the area. That is usually then followed by a second or even third more deadly explosion and that is the reason why it is important that our people should be properly educated so that they desist from accessing the scene of crime as soon as the crime has occurred. With regard to the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), my position has never changed. I spoke in this House here and I stated clearly then that we were ready to do dialogue, not only with the MRC but also with all the other organizations so long as they must first renounce violence as a means of resolving their issues. Secondly, with respect to the MRC, they should renounce the “ Pwani si Kenya ” slogan. That is what I said here and that is what I also said when I was Mombasa. When I was talking I only said that these people have genuine concerns because there are historical grievances. There are historical neglects which have taken place in our country, not only in the Coast but in other parts of the country. I said that we need to address this. I said that that is why we have been struggling all this time to deal with historical injustices. I said that in this country, there have been two forces pulling in two opposite directions; the forces for change and reform versus the forces for retention of the status quo ."
}