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"content": "I want to commend the leader of the opposition, hon. Raila, who together with the President have shown unity in this country. We should support them. I want, at the same time, to congratulate the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for a very difficult job that was done in a short time but in a good manner. We have not heard of elections, anywhere in the world, where there were no complaints. You will remember Al Gore where the difference between him and the winning candidate was very close. He was satisfied and the Americans moved on. We also remember our distant son, President Obama. His election results were very close to those of Romney. This was going on at a time when I was in the US undergoing treatment. They were very close. However, when this was announced because this was even closer than ours, looking at the percentage of the population, Americans, owing to the matured democracy accepted it because it was said to be free and fair. That did not mean that there were no small mistakes that happened here and there. Any mistakes that cannot change the outcome, I believe, that is why we have the Supreme Court to address them. I want to congratulate the Supreme Court because Parliament vetted the Supreme Court judges very vigorously. In fact, I think we had a large number and a majority of the CORD Members which was then referred to as ODM were in support of the Supreme Court. We are the ones who had a bit of doubt on the Chief Justice. He is not now the Chief Justice but the President of the Supreme Court of Kenya. Since they decided to follow justice which Kenyans wanted, they are now being vilified. My question is: When will we, as Kenyans, trust our institutions? If we put every institution in place and if things do not go our way, we criticize them and disband them, how many Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECKs) and IEBCs will we disband? That brings instability in the country. I was thinking to myself that if the late hon. Kivuitu had not died, he would have been very happy to hear that the same chorus that had been sang about the former ECK; they bungled the elections, they stole the elections, President Kibaki stole the election. This is the same thing we heard in this House yesterday. Why would Parliament, both sides of the House and both sides of the divide, put together such an institution? Why would the Supreme Court agree to go against an individual? I think the answer is; the problem is with the individual. May be it is good for us, as Kenyans, to look at ourselves again because unless we respect our institutions, we will not get it right. We will just start making our people excited and make people think that something is wrong. How can we have stability if we tell Kenyans that the elections were not free and fair; even after the Supreme Court, which was put in place by both sides of the divide, told people that it was free and fair? We must forget the campaigns now and start rebuilding our unity and rebuilding Kenya. To my brother, the leader of opposition, hon. Raila Odinga, in developed democracies, once someone loses once or twice, he or she retires and grooms a younger person like our friend, Sen. Wetangula, or any other leader from CORD. He could even bring a younger one like hon. Namwamba so that this bitterness can come to an end and we start building unity and one nation which we are. I believe that the President and the Deputy President, whom I congratulate for being elected freely and fairly by many people---I want to congratulate them for the new way they have made the Cabinet. When you vet, you cannot vet all of them together. My only disappointment with the President and the Deputy President is the way they called 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."
}