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"id": 304394,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/304394/?format=api",
"text_counter": 461,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mrs. Odhiambo-Mabona",
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"speaker": {
"id": 376,
"legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
"slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
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"content": "Unfortunately after that, the cock did not die. After the elections, the cock came out even much stronger. I remember that evening we went back home and we ate and were peaceful despite not supporting the cock. So, the reason that we had a problem last time was not just because of transition. So, if you look at it in terms of transition alone, there is a problem. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have said it before and I want to say it publicly, that as a country we made a mistake in the way we treated Moi. It is not Christian and the Bible does not allow it. The leaders are chosen by God; we should not have thrown mud and stones at Moi. We may not have liked him; I did not like his rule but because he is a leader we needed to give him that respect he deserved. Having said that, I also want to say that I am happy today we are acknowledging all the people who did a lot of good work to ensure transition. Because we are a thankless nation, sometimes we forget people that we over-politicize. I want to thank the hon. Prime Minister, Raila Amolo Odinga. Because of where I stand and come from, people will think I am playing politics but it is not every day that you have a person who will take over a person in a wheelchair, campaign for him and stand with him at a point of transition. We forget as a nation. Until as a nation we address those issues that I am mentioning, we will always have problems. I therefore, want to encourage us that as a nation, one, we respect leadership and two, we learn to be thankful. Having said that, I want to say that therefore, I laud all the people who conceded defeat like my friend hon. Uhuru Kenyatta but I also want to encourage us that even in future let us respect the rule of law so that we do not have the situation that we had before. That is why I want to thank the Minister for bringing this Bill. I want to just mention a few things that I would want the Minister to look at. One, on the short title and commencement, it is provided that this Act may be cited as the Assumption of the Office of the President Act and shall come into force upon the announcement of the date of the first election. Kenyans are very litigious. We might have six announcements so we need to be clear which announcement. The other issue that I wanted to address is that in terms of the establishment of the Assumption of the Office of the President Committee at Clause 5(2) (m), it talks of three persons nominated by the President-elect. In terms of the timing, I am not too sure whether these people would be in place if you look at the timing of the Bill. So, I want the Minister to just look at the timing because they might not be there. If they are not there, then we need to look at other people who can fit in this because I am uncomfortable if you only have very heavy Government machinery. The transition of presidency is not only a Government affair; it is a Kenyan affair. So, if we can have, even if it is not a president-elect, the civil society or some other body that you can chose. I say that if you look at it against Clause 5(3) that the chairperson of the committee shall convene the first meeting of the committee at least 30 days before the date of the general elections. By that time I do not think we will know who the president-elect is. The other thing that I wanted to say is that because we are in a coalition Government, I think we need to also transit. Because of that, I would want to suggest that we add the Ministry of Local Government to include devolved structures and somebody from the Office of the Prime Minister which will exit when the next Government comes in. If you look at the offices that are here, you have the Secretary to the Cabinet, the Attorney-General, internal security, finance, foreign affairs, information, constitutional affairs, defence forces, intelligence, police and State House. It leans very heavily towards one coalition. Because we want to transit, I am sure you did not intend it but because I have drawn it to your attention please take into account that. Under Clause 6, the functions of the committee shall be to facilitate the handing over process by the outgoing President. I would want to add that even though it looks obvious but in Kenya unless some things are put forward very expressly, we do not know. Please facilitate a proper and legal handing over process. For Clause 9, I would be comfortable if we talk about providing adequate security immediately, giving a time frame because then people will start getting into a legal argument that will give you security after four, five days or one week. Even though the Minister is shaking his head, I can tell you for a fact that this hon. House asked that Ms. Rachael Shebesh be given added security when she said her life was in danger and to date, she is only being told that she has to go and explain herself to Mr. Kimemia before she can be given further security. So, really, even things which are common sense sometimes it is not very common in Kenya. So, I would want to suggest that you provide it very clearly. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another thing that I would also want to urge the Minister to consider looking at is that we provide that when you are taking the oath and signing certificate of inauguration, it could be the Chief Justice or in the absence of the Chief Justice the Deputy Chief Justice, could we please provide the instances when the Chief Justice will not be available because otherwise, we get back to the usual Kenyan intrigues. So, I would want to say that the Chief Justice would not be available if he is sick but not just that. Originally I was a little skeptical when we were using the sword as a symbol of handing over. But I changed my mind when I looked at my information. I would want to indicate that when I have done a little research it shows that in Budhism the sword is a symbol that deals with the issue of discrimination of thought. So, it is actually a symbol of justice. In the Congo, it is a symbol of transition. In Christianity the sword is a symbol that deals with protection, righteousness and justice. In a lot of Christian literature we see the Arch Angel Michael depicted in Christian art holding a sword which also has the scales to reinforce the concept of truth, purity, equanimity and justice revealed in the light of Christ. It also talks of purity of heart. Therefore, I am happy that we used the sword. Of course originally I was only looking at it maybe as a negative symbol. Therefore, it also shows that what many people may fear as negative can also be a positive. I would want to talk very quickly to Clause 20. Clause 20 seeks to bring a limitation under Article 35 of the Constitution. I am uncomfortable with Clause 23(a) that talks about limitation where we are talking about the issue of information. We are saying that we will not give information if it is undesirable in the public interest. Such provisions would be adopted in the previous Constitution. We have actually left them in the previous Constitution. So, I would want us to be more specific than “in the public interest”. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, again, I want the Minister to look very carefully at the issue of confidentiality. Arising from some infamous books that some people have been reading, which I have personally not read; we now want to talk about signing confidentiality agreements. When you are a public figure, you must know that people will write books about you. It does not matter whether the contents will be truths or falsehoods. We have laws dealing with such things, by which we can bring the authors to justice. We cannot gag people by providing for them to sign confidentiality agreements, especially on issues of transition. So, to me, Clause 20(5) appears to be unconstitutional because it takes away the freedom of expression, and we are not very specific about the level we want to limit it to. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}