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"id": 421007,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
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"legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
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"content": "It is time that we applied the constitutional provisions, so that officers in public offices who do not want to do their work are held to account. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, as we read these Reports, it is time we soberly embarked on the audit of the Constitution. This is because there is something fundamentally wrong with some of the individuals we have given office to hold on behalf of the people of Kenya. Even as we cry about the problems that are bedeviling this country, in more ways than one, the Executive remains guilty as charged. We must ask whether the individuals we have made Principal Secretaries and Cabinet Secretaries are really up to the task. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, a colleague has alluded to the fact that in the old constitutional dispensation, we had Ministers sitting here; the additional Ministerial responsibilities were a much lighter burden to the taxpayer than is the case now. That is why I think that we must, as a country, embark on auditing this Constitution, and accept that some things were not done right. I have said it before, and I am saying it again; I think we must bring Ministers back into this House so that they are held to account. As I talk about this, sometimes it pains me as a Kenyan who believes in this country. When this country got Independence, we had very noble and achievable national goals, which were to fight poverty, ignorance and disease. But you will realize that, immediately we attained Independence, these very noble, simple, achievable and practical national goals ran into the headwinds of tribalism, corruption and bad governance. We must speak about them boldly; Kenya cannot move forward, after our 50 years of existence. What bad governance, corruption and tribalism have created are small kingdoms within Government. There are some among us who have attempted to bring despotism to our country. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, there have been even cases where we have had individuals who have wanted to introduce autocracy in this country, and, in the worst of cases, even aristocracy; that is the only way you can explain Ken-Ren, Anglo-leasing and Goldenberg. There are questions we must ask ourselves. Recently we had a listing of who is who in Kenya in terms of wealth. Is it accidental that some of the wealthiest individuals in this country at one point held public offices? It cannot be accidental! It is shameful and the country must confront these things. We know what public servants earn. Look at the list of billionaires in Kenya and you will find that either at one point somebody was a Permanent Secretary, served in a parastatal or was a bank head. This is shameful. These are the who-is-who in Kenya today. If we do not want to confront these realities head on, we will be scratching the surface and that is why sometimes I sympathise with the President, and I know Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto very well. In fact, I want to say that when I campaigned in 2007 William Ruto was one of the people who helped me to win the Rarieda seat. In my heart I want to believe these two individuals mean well for the country. However, sometimes you have to ask yourself: What kind of advisors do these two individuals have? When you stand on the lawn of a five star facility where you have taken about 100 Government operatives, you have stayed there for over five days, and we know in that facility some rooms cost as much as Kshs27,000 a night and some plates of dinner cost as much as Kshs25,000 a night, and you pronounce austerity measures, are The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}