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{
    "id": 375994,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/375994/?format=api",
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    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to remind hon. Members that the equivalent of the National Assembly in the United States of America (USA) is the US Congress. In the United Kingdom, the equivalent of this House is the House of Commons. However, the Kenyan people, deliberately, chose the title “Members of the National Assembly” because we are supposed to be national in nature. As opposed to the county governments and the Senate, whose memberships are delegations from the counties, we are Members of the National Assembly. Sub-Article 1 of Article 95 talks of this House representing the people of Kenya. If you read downwards, you will see that Sub-Article 3 talks about this House legislating, on behalf of the people of Kenya, and dealing with issues that are of concern to the people of Kenya. Therefore, I would urge that when this House transacts any business, we should be guided by the principle of nationalism. We should take the pragmatic approach of nationalism. We should not confine ourselves to tribal and community cocoons. We can talk on behalf of our constituencies, but we should choose our language. This country is still reconciling. Let us remember what happened in 2008. None of us would want to see the same happen again. Therefore, we need to be careful with our speeches and show some level of responsibility. I am speaking to both sides of the House. I want to speak to the Jubilee side and the CORD side. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to proceed and say that the President of the Republic of Kenya has a very heavy and tiring responsibility. Therefore, he needs help from everybody. When we criticise him, we should do so with respect. When we criticise him, his friends should also understand and appreciate that criticism can help one grow, in terms of carrying out his responsibilities. If we do not criticise, it will be too late for our country. I remember that one of the key promises that the Jubilee Government made to Kenyans is promotion of national unity. National unity can come about if we reason together. It can come about if we accept positive criticism. I am not talking about negative criticism. As the President of the Republic of Kenya, hon. Uhuru Kenyatta has to be very careful. The drafters of the Constitution were deliberate in providing that public appointments must not be done by one person but rather through a process. It was believed and expected that the product that would come out of that process would have been vetted properly. Therefore, from the appointment panels, we need to see what we call the face of Kenya. If that does not happen, we need to ask the President to make sure that it happens. He is in his fourth month of leadership. We cannot criticise him so much, but we want to tell him that he needs to show commitment towards ensuring political inclusivity in this country. I want to remind this House something I said sometime back. North Korea is not as developed as South Korea yet the two countries share a boundary. Why is Mexico not as developed as the USA? Why is Zimbabwe not as developed as Botswana yet the two countries are in the same region? It is because of the culture of fighting political and economic inclusivity. The President needs to bring people from all areas of this country into his Government, so that we do not have a country that is divided. In my view, that is very important."
}