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    "id": 380669,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/380669/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 215,
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    "content": "Towett. We used to sing ritually without knowing that the man, Dr. Taita Towett, had said--- By the time you become an adult, it rings in your mind that we have to go to school, and we have to learn and listen to our parents and our teachers. You hear your children telling you today “sing me a song;” but there is nothing except the latest and fashionable songs they have heard on television. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we have a Ministry in charge of vetting what we need to watch. But now, we are allowing everything to come in, all in the name of freedom. The Constitution says “just watch and listen; just take exactly what you want” and we end up killing our nature. When God made Africans black people, we had our own way of growing up and we could take civilization to the extent that it allowed us access to education. But we should not swallow everything to the extent that we find girls walking naked! I used to be a principal in Moi University for five years and my students used to walk naked. I remember sometime last year, we had two or three girls of Kimathi University in Nyeri walking to the supermarket. Some young men said that they were walking semi-naked and they had to remove the tiny little clothes that they had on. Really, there is a limit as to what we can do. But at this point and after mentioning this, some groups will come and talk of human rights. Human rights should be put in the context of the culture of the people and the society where you come from. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, do you remember when we said “The Ministry of Education has declared that teachers should not be using whips in schools?” I am not saying that we should re-introduce the whip, but it is African culture that when a kid goes astray – and the Bible confirms this – you can whip the child a little and his common sense will come back. I am not trying to say that we should go and do it, but where did we go wrong until we swallowed everything to this extent? I know some people went beyond limits, where they would damage the legs or head of the child in the process of disciplining them; and that one small case just erupted and rubbed off everything that was supposed to bring order in us. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, as a result of the indiscipline that we have, you noted that in the year 2007/2008, we lost our culture and young men went to the streets without permission or without order, and they caused havoc. We baptised them in English, calling them “clashes.” We even improved on it and called it “post election violence.” This was caused by young people, and when the old men stood up to tell them “No, no, no! What happened? Nobody would listen to them. Why? Because the sight of an old man in the years gone by was sufficient enough to warn us that things had gone beyond normal and that we should listen to him. But now, nothing like that happens. What about leaders? Sen. G.G. Kariuki was saying that we have digitised the children and their lives to the extent that they cannot even listen to their leaders. But even for the leaders, sometimes the recognition is not there! It is not that we want to be worshipped and recognized; no. What we want is respect for our African ways and culture. Look at the patriotism that was there then, and it was so powerful. Do we still remember the history of how Kenya became independent? Do we know the sweat and blood that was lost by the years gone by? We have reduced it to a very tiny thing called “Mau Mau Struggle” or “Mau Mau to be compensated.” That is the only thing that people The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}