Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 362688,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/362688/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 496,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "same time you see a worrying tendency to crave for blood. They want to see some blood being spilled and if that blood is for one that is for high and mighty, even the sweeter. All you need in this country is just to cry “thief” or say “wolf” even when there is no slightest hint of a wolf and everybody will be after you. So, this gentleman, Mr. Francis Kimemia, who I must say I had occasion to serve with as a Cabinet Minister when he served as Secretary to the Cabinet of the last Government, I am glad that the Committee decided to ignore all the noises, all the speculations, all the rumours and all the suspicions and focus on what is truthful, factual and real. That is what has informed this Committee. I want to say that I would particularly find it unacceptable when a commission, a body that has been given constitutional mandate to help this country to confront challenges; challenges like corruption and abuse of office decides to undertake those responsibilities in a casual and cavalier fashion; in a manner that really leaves a lot to be desired. When you write a letter and you say that you are investigating someone for something mega - I must tell this House that when we received this letter and very unfortunately in the classical Kenyan style, this letter became the center of focus and made, especially the media ignore everything else and focus on this single piece of correspondence. You write a letter like this and you say that you are investigating someone for mega corruption. Of course, when we received this letter, as a Committee conducting due diligence, we were very keen to know what this mega corruption is and it was on the basis of that, that we decided to talk to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) in camera because we also wanted to protect its request for confidentiality. But the information that came out was disappointing; absolutely disappointing. My regret is that we conducted that session in camera; we should have conducted that sitting in public because then Kenyans would have had occasion to see what this was all about. I dare say that if this Commission wants to investigate anybody for abuse of office, they have a very good candidate in one Sarah Serem. They would find a very good candidate there for investigation for definite abuse of office. Hon. Deputy Speaker, let me conclude that in the process of vetting, I was interested to find out whether all the complaints that had been flying around this nominee on the question of his bias with regard to devolution, political bias and integrity had any modicum of truth. I was pleasantly surprised that on the issue of devolution, Mr. Francis Kimemia is very clear about the fact that devolution is the centerpiece of our new constitutional order. He is very clear on the pecking order in the counties and he did not hesitate when we put it to him as to who between the County Commissioner and the governor ought to take precedence, for instance during public events. Therefore, the fear that this nominee is a stumbling block to devolution is more fiction than fact. The question of political bias, again, is one that has been on the lips of many people. Again, it became very apparent that this nominee is one who is firmly committed to serving Government and executing Government policy. Sometimes, in your zeal to execute your mandate, it becomes very difficult, for anybody, to draw a line. I do not know how you would work in a manner where you were Secretary to a cabinet headed by a politician and not go out of your way to implement fully the policies of a government of a cabinet of which you are Secretary to. Of course, the question of political bias is also one that we found rather wishy-washy."
}