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{
"id": 402046,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/402046/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wangari",
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"speaker": {
"id": 13123,
"legal_name": "Martha Wangari",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise to support the Bill and really congratulate the Mover, because this is one of the Bills that I would refer to as a bold Bill. Mr. Speaker, Sir, when Kenyans voted overwhelmingly for the Constitution that is governing this country, they had very high hopes. In fact, 10 years ago – and I know that came with the NARC revolutions – Kenyans were voted to be one of the happiest people in the globe. That is because they had high expectations which were put in this Constitution. We had already suffered in the centralized kind of Government and we hoped that we would get better delivery of services, not only better, but closer and, of course, easier to access, and not for self glory. When the elections came this year, of course, people went out and voted and several months down the line, the citizens are already wondering whether this was really what they had voted for. There is one author called Robin Sharma – for those who read – who has done a very interesting book, The Leader Who Had No Title. He tries to explain that you do not need to be defined by a title for you to be a good leader. You can do good and you can do great without having very powerful titles preceding your name. In fact, we have had people in this country who have done great things, being recognized nationally and internationally without having to carry the title “His Excellency, Her Excellency”. They have done good things and great things for this country. We are talking about Very Important Persons (VIPs) as they are referred to in this country. When we do so, we are talking about 47 Governors, 67 Senators, 349 Members of the National Assembly, 47 Speakers of the county assemblies, two Speakers of the two Houses and over 2,000 Members of County Assembly (MCAs). If this madness is not tamed, I do not see how devolution, five years down the line, will be evaluated as having helped wananchi . Mr. Speaker, Sir, as I support this Bill because it will tame what is already going on, where everyone wants to show that they are fighting or they are more superior than the others. This House has been credited by being very modest and that can even be shown by the way we debate in this House. We not only have very experienced Members, but we have people with decorum. This has been demonstrated by all of us and no one can deny us that. We are not doing this so that we wear a very big hat to brag on the streets. I think everyone here is above that and my appeal is that this Bill is not taken out of context because we are a House of order. Even in the country, we have a Constitution. That is why we make laws so that we streamline things that were not there initially. This new Constitution, together with all these positions that have been created, definitely need a legal framework so that people do not just wake up and decide; “I am now Her Excellency.” Every time I sit down and hear “Her Excellency, the First Lady” thinking that you are referring to the First Lady that we know, only to see that there is another “First Lady.” I think this Bill will bring a lot of order in the country. I hope it can be supported across the board because it will bring order to this country. This Bill will definitely tame the errant ones because not everyone out there is bad. It will also tame those who think they own this country and others do not. It is very important that we do not lose the focus of devolution. Let people work very hard to make sure that services get"
}