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"content": "(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I beg to move:- THAT, the Speaker do now leave the Chair to facilitate debate on the National Honours Regulations, 2013, laid on the Table of the Senate on Wednesday, 20th November, 2013, pursuant to Section 14 (3) of the National Honours Act, 2013. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on 20th November, 2013, the Senate Majority Leader laid on the Table of this House the Regulations on National Honours, pursuant to Article 14(3) of the National Honours Act of 2013, which requires the Cabinet Secretary to propose regulations for the furtherance of that Act. The regulations tabled are brief. I am sure Senators have had time to look at them. Very briefly, Mr. Speaker, Sir, the regulations provide for the various categories that will guide the Committees that will be recommending national honours so that people are given honours, depending on the achievement and the kind of qualifications and qualities in national service that the particular awardee has demonstrated. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have had these national honours before, but there has not been any law, regulations or guidance on who gets honours and for what reason and who does not qualify for national honours. So, the first aspects of those regulations deal with the various categories of medals which shall be available for conferment to deserving Kenyans. The first category is the Order of the Golden Heart (OGH) of Kenya, which 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 will have three categories, the highest being the Chief of the Golden Heart (CGH), followed by Elder of the Golden Heart (EGH) and then Moran of the Golden Heart (MGH). Below the order of the Golden Heart of Kenya is another category; the Order of the Burning Spear (OBS), which again will be categorized, with the highest being the Chief of the Burning Spear (CBS), followed by the Elder of the Burning Spear (EBS) and Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS), in that order. There are other categories which are listed there, including Distinguished Service Medal (DSM), Long Service medal (LSM) and Good Conduct Medal (GCM), et cetera . So, the categories are well set out in these regulations. Secondly, Mr. Speaker, Sir, these regulations tell us who qualifies; and I want to refer, particularly to Regulation 14 which says, amongst other things, that a person shall merit conferment of national honours if they have demonstrated, among other things, exemplary qualities, actions, achievements of heroism, sacrifice, bravery, patriotism or leadership for the defense, benefit and betterment of the country or a county. So, in terms of achievements and qualities, these regulations require that either somebody has shown exemplary leadership at national level or even at county level, now that we have moved towards a devolved system of governance. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the other thing that I want to highlight again, in the interest of time, is the fact that it has not been seen as prudent also to have so many medals floating around. Regulation 15 talks about the available stock of medals. It says:- “The National Honours Advisory Committee, when making recommendations, must take cognizance of the existing stock levels and recommend nominees, not exceeding two thirds of the medals in stock.” Mr. Speaker, Sir, this will, of course, make it a big achievement that whoever gets these honours must really work for them. We do not want to have so many people carrying all manner of honours all over the streets. I think it is a good regulation based on the simple logic of basic economics; that the scarcer a commodity is, the pricier that commodity becomes. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to very briefly also say that these regulations also provide for the establishment of Advisory Committees to advise on who gets these honours for the Judiciary, for the Executive and also for the Legislature. It is up to Senators to, perhaps, debate this and find out whether there are things that we need to amend or vary in terms of what has been provided there. Lastly, Mr. Speaker, Sir, the regulations provide for the manner in which a recipient, the person who has received a national honour, can lose those honours. In the past, once a national honour had been conferred, it has been a lifetime conferment. But these rules envisage a situation where somebody can be a beneficiary of a national honour and forfeit it if their conduct is not consistent with the conferment or the continued conferment of that honour. So, I think Regulation 26 is extremely important for the beneficiaries or for those who are lucky to be conferred with these national honours. It says that:- “A recipient of a national honour shall forfeit the honour on the following grounds. 1. Dishonorable discharge from the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF);” 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 That is for the disciplined forces; if they are discharged from the forces in a dishonourable manner. But, also, the person will forfeit this honour:- 2. If they contravene Chapter 6 of the Constitution; Again, another contour which I think the beneficiary should keep reminding themselves about. Finally, a person will forfeit a national honour:- 3. If they are convicted - not accused – of any of the following crimes or offences: treason, sedition, murder, rape, corruption, terrorism, drug trafficking---“ I am sure we can enlarge this list of offences. Again, in the same spirit of ensuring that those who benefit from this scarce commodity called a national honour are people who are, indeed, honourable. They are people who give the best image of their country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I do not think I want to belabour so much because these rules are short and straight forward. I think Members have had occasion to go through them. I beg to move and request Sen. Elachi to second this Motion."
}