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{
    "id": 304408,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/304408/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 475,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Namwamba",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 108,
        "legal_name": "Ababu Tawfiq Pius Namwamba",
        "slug": "ababu-namwamba"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to support this very historic Bill because, indeed, it is a historic Bill in that it is breaking new ground. It is said that failing to plan is planning to fail. Indeed, we have witnessed the consequences of failure to plan, especially planning for the obvious, the expected and the anticipated. That is why we have repeatedly mentioned that very sad scenario that we witnessed in December 2002, when a moment that was meant to be of a historic happening in the history of our country--- We witnessed for the first time transfer of power after a democratic electoral process that ended up being a national shame, as chaos were witnessed at Uhuru Park. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have come a long way and we are definitely at a moment when we can be proud. On August 27th 2010, as we promulgated the new Constitution for this country, we witnessed a different scenario at Uhuru Park. The organization or the arrangement was certainly better than what we had witnessed eight years earlier. It is also said that even if you are on the right track, you will be run over if you just sit there. You have to keep moving and keep moving in the right direction. This Bill certainly is movement in the right direction. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to commend retired President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi for really having set us rolling by handing over power peacefully at the conclusion of the 2002 elections. I believe that this country owes an official apology to Daniel Arap Moi for the manner in which he was handled during that ceremony; at an appropriate time, perhaps, this country and the Government of Kenya will deliver an official apology to former President Moi. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let us not wait to say this after he has departed because Kenyans have a penchant to praise the dead. We seem to have some morbid fear of praising people during their lifetime and even apologizing to them for having wronged them. So we wait until they are departed and then we shed crocodile tears in their funeral services when it would be much easier to do so while they lived. Also to commend gallant sons and daughters of this country like my dear sister, Dr. Sally Kosgey, an eminent daughter of this land of no mean international repute for the excellent role she played in that very difficult transition. Remember that Dr. Kosgey was presiding over a process with no precedence in terms of our history as a country. I think we really owe gallant citizens of this land like my dear sister Dr. Kosgey a debt of gratitude for the role they played. History has conspired to place President Mwai Kibaki in a very unique position. Indeed, when the history of this country is written ultimately, His Excellency President Kibaki will always be that president who was in the moment of transition. This is the president who was right at the heart of that first transition after the democratic elections of 2002 when for the first time power transited from one political party to the other with President Kibaki, of course, being the man of the moment of the third President of the Republic. President Kibaki will also be remembered as the President who presided over the transition from the old constitutional order to new constitutional order. Now President Kibaki again will be that President who will be presiding over the historic process of the first president elected under the new Constitution to whom we expect and hope that President Kibaki will be handing over to. I want to hope that having been such a historic President in very many respects, His Excellency President Mwai Kibaki will want to see this transition happening in a manner that will be unforgettable, the challenges that we have witnessed in the recent past notwithstanding. Allow me to mention a few sections of the law that I wish to invite the Minister to consider looking at afresh. Section 5(5) of the Act provides that among other responsibilities of the Committee – this is under Part V that establishes the Assumption of the Office of President Committee. Section 5 relates to the appointment of the secretary of the committee. It provides that members of the committee shall at the first meeting of the committee elect from among their members a secretary who shall be responsible for taking minutes and keeping the record of the committee. It is traditional---"
}