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{
    "id": 381774,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/381774/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 121,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. G.G. Kariuki",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 330,
        "legal_name": "Godfrey Gitahi Kariuki",
        "slug": "gg-kariuki"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to say something about this Motion. I know it will be amended to remove my name and replace it with another. That is my information. It has not reached you, but there is that proposal. I can now speak freely on this Motion because my intentions and my wishes are being taken care of. I do not want to be a Member of this Committee. Talking about the Motion, before we move to formalize or to codify harambee, we have to ask ourselves; what was the purpose of harambee from the word go? What was the philosophy behind harambee? As I understand it, people were supposed to sit together and those who could afford to assist others did so willingly without being compelled by anybody. There was no law to compel anybody to do this. In fact, the intention was not to bring law into the issue of harambee because it was a voluntarily exercise. If you wanted to give me something if I had a project in the name of harambee, you were free to do so. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I agree that quite a number of people made use of harambee to do other things which were not supposed to be done. In fact, in the Koigi Wamwere Report and many other reports, including mine, harambee contributed quite a lot to corruption in this country. It is harambee which messed the politics of this country. This is because those who had a lot of money used it to make their names or to show others that they were the only people who were able to assist them. In fact, they forced the public to believe that they loved them too much. That is why they were taking too much money to them. This changed the harambee spirit to something else. If you codify harambee the way the Mover of this Motion wants it done, I think it will have no meaning; it will cease to be harambee. It will be a kind of forced decision of taking other people’s money. If this Motion on harambee is going to be considered with a view to making a law which will control harambee, I think we need to think twice. For example, if people want to build a church and they request their members to contribute, there is no harm in doing so. We should not appear to be interfering with the peace of the 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."
}