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{
    "id": 395077,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/395077/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 218,
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    "content": "The Constitution itself says that once you are a citizen, all you need is to show that you are a citizen. The question of getting an identity card or not, is not a matter that is in question. Once you show that you are a Kenyan citizen, you should get an identity card and be accorded all the other privileges. These privileges include freedom of movement and all other things that go with the right to citizenship. So, I would like to ask Sen. Haji to look at the chapter dealing with citizenship in the Constitution because it is very clear. Telling us that we should give people identity cards or integrate them into the community is like undermining their citizenship. Once you are a Kenyan citizen, there are things that you are entitled to automatically. So, why do you ask for an identity card for a Kenyan citizen? I think you are undermining the people of Somali origin who are Kenyans. Why should you plead for their citizenship? It is just like any Luo or any Kikuyu. Once you are a Kenyan by birth, then why should you be pleading for these things? So, I think whereas the spirit of the Motion is arising out of a context where there has been drought and conflict because that area is a conflict area, it needs to be looked at afresh. I think that Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale should not be dismissed because if you look at what has happened in that area from Mandera up to Tana River in the last six months, there has been a lot of conflict. You need some caution to deal with a conflict area. That happens everywhere. So, I thank Sen. (Dr.) Zani for what she has said because I think she is an expert in some of these things. Let us deal with these things knowing that there is some pride about being a Kenyan. The bottom line is that the Kenyan citizenship should be of some value and it should have some privileges. So, I would urge hon. Senators to support the amendment that I want to move in this Motion and also to declare that this is not a matter that is just happening in north eastern alone. It is happening in other parts of the country as well, particularly in Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties, where the situation is like this. Some Kenyans have gone into camps in Uganda. Some have gone there, because that is the only way they can get food by declaring that they are refugees. They are there because they were either displaced locally or displaced in Uganda. So, Madam Temporary Speaker, I beg to move the following amendment. THAT, the Motion be amended by deleting all the words after the words “national government” appearing in the last line and inserting the following words in the third last line; “to vet thoroughly all persons concerned and other deserving cases elsewhere in Kenya with a view of establishing their nationality as Kenyans and where appropriate, restore their privileges as citizens of Kenya, including their integration into their community.” Madam Temporary Speaker, I want us to get out of this situation. In fact, I am one of the people who sympathize with Sen. Haji’s case because I have done a lot of cases of Kenyans of Somali origin who have been renditioned to Mogadishu after being arrested here. In fact, there are some cases where the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has even been involved. So, the Kenyans of Somali origin have not had a fair deal in these 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."
}