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"id": 402053,
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"content": "It is in that connection that I vehemently support this Bill. In fact, at an appropriate stage, I think this is a Bill that needs some amendments so that it is improved and made better. For example, I agree that the title, “His Excellency” should be reserved to the Head of State. This is any person who acts within the ambit and direct instruction and personalization of the Head of State. The Deputy President, for example, exists as a personification of the Office of the President. Therefore, for the President and the Deputy President, the term “His Excellency” represents the sovereign authority and sacrosanct of the nation of Kenya. So, when you refer to someone else as His Excellency, does that mean that they are leaders of independent states? Are they presidents of Trans Nzoia, Tharaka-Nithi, Mombasa or of which country? This does not make sense. We must reserve the term “His Excellency” for the Head of State and for his Deputy. As my brother, Sen. Kembi-Gitura has said, the Ambassador who represents His or Her President in a foreign country is referred to as “His or Her Excellency” in that country on behalf of the people and leadership of Kenya. However, when you come back here, you become one of us. Secondly, this is not an attack on Governors or Members of the National Assembly. That would be a petty way of looking at it. There is another way of looking at it. There are people who are referred to, in law, as Members of the Executive Committee. This is in the Constitution and in the County Government Act. The people who assist Governors to run office are called the Members of the Executive Committee. However, these days, they refer to themselves as Cabinet Secretaries. I have a few cards from a few people. In some county somewhere, there is a Minister for Transport. If you look at that Minister for Transport, you will wonder whether the term has changed its meaning. My goodness, has this term changed its meaning? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill will provide clarity as well as help us clean some of these things. It should become illegal to use some of these titles carelessly. We not have Ministers in counties, but Executive Committee Members. The title Member of Parliament – that is why this Bill should be improved to capture these things – is being used by our brothers in the Lower House to refer to Members of the National Assembly. You cannot call yourself Member of Parliament because Parliament means both Senate and the National Assembly. Therefore, I am a Senator, but the other is a Member of the National Assembly and together, we are Parliamentarians. I am an MP as a Senator and so is the Member of the National Assembly. However, they cannot take the term MP to means Members of the National Assembly exclusively. As I speak, I know that there are very good Governors out there; extremely humble people who are working very hard to try and transform the lives of the people that they lead. They are very thrifty in their spending and are trying very hard to reach out to investors. They have no problems and are very secure with their positions. However, these form the insignificant minority. Majority of leaders at that level are people who think that the more cars one drives, the more people you scare out of the road, the more important you become as a leader. Time has come for us to bring order and sanity in our leadership structure. Time has come for us to talk about the flying of the flag. Maybe I need to talk about the flying of this flag so that other Senators can also contribute. We cannot allow, as a country, to have a situation where everybody is flying the flag everywhere because the National Flag is the symbol of our nationhood. It is a sacred document that shall"
}