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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the principles of civic education are to continually and systematically engage citizens and the Government. The purpose of civic education is to educate the people on the values and principles of devolution in the Constitution. It is only when people are aware of the values and principles of devolution that they will be prepared to stand up and defend it. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Article 99 talks about the purposes and objectives of civic education. Among the objectives of civic education are improved understanding, appreciation and engagement in the operationalization of the county system of government and also knowledge of Kenya’s transformed political system and so on. So, when you talk about the principles, aims and objectives of civic education, it is all there laid out, particularly in Articles 98 and 99 of the Constitution. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I have already stated that many of the problems we have today, particularly problems which relate to the mistrust of the various stakeholders of the various organs of government, the misunderstandings that are happening, the fight for having your own turf and so on, it is all because people have not clearly understood what our new Constitution is all about. Under our laws, the Transition Authority (TA) was supposed to undertake this civic education under the relevant law, Section 1(g). True enough, they have developed a training manual and a curriculum. They have developed a booklet on civic education. They have also developed a question and answer booklet on issues which arise out of the implementation of the Constitution. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Ministry for Devolution was also supposed to be involved in civic education, develop standard guidelines for civic education, but they have not been able to do so because of lack of finances. The Ministry of Justice, including the Attorney-General and the Department of Justice, came up with the Kenya National Integrated Civic Education Programme, but it lacked funds. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) began funding this particular project, but now it is no longer going on. I know the Japanese Government has about Kshs100 million which it can give, but provided the government allocates counterpart funding. However, that said money has not been forthcoming. Therefore, that money has not been utilized. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, let me just tell you that in a country which is in a transition stage like Kenya, they have thought it necessary to have a more comprehensive civic education system. If you look at Germany, when the Berlin Wall of 1989 fell, a special minister for civic education was appointed to educate the people of Germany on the new structures of a united government. In addition, there was a special parliamentary committee appointed just to oversee what that ministry on civic education was doing. In Ghana, they have a whole national commission on civic education and many other countries have a commission focusing on civic education and so on. In Japan, again, after the World War II, a whole proper programme which was comprehensive and properly funded was put in place to educate people on issues relating to democratic processes and so on. That is the stage in which we are when it comes to developing of constitutionalism, hence, the importance that we should all be trained; and hence, this Motion which calls upon the Government to put in place a proper structure, well funded and systematic to ensure that each and every person in this country does actually receive civic education and, in particular, public officials. We should all get civic education to 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."
}