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{
    "id": 422899,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/422899/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 55,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Constitution (Amendment) Bill. It is a known fact that over time, inequality anywhere translates into inequality everywhere. The issue of inequality in Kenya has become so serious that it must be addressed as a matter of national concern. You remember last week, one of the major media houses in Kenya was doing a serialization of the wealthy in Kenya. Much as it is encouraging, it also offered very depressing statistics. What emerged is that over 80 per cent of wealth in Kenya is in the hands of less than 10 per cent of Kenyans. In simple terms, this is a recipe for disaster. The income disparities in Kenya are so serious that something has to be done urgently. It is said that, at the moment, the wealthiest person in East Africa lives in Kenya. Similarly, the poorest person in East Africa also lives in Kenya. We must seek to have a fair society. Not necessarily a welfare society; because when you seek to have a welfare society, you are mainly pursuing entitlement. But when we seek to have a fair society, we are seeking a convergence of effort and entitlement. A lot of the disparities that we have in our country have historical connotations. It goes back to the targets that were missed from the time this great country became independent. We had very noble goals - very simple, realizable, and achievable. Within no time, those noble goals of fighting poverty, ignorance and disease immediately we attained independence due to self interest, ran into the head winds of tribalism, corruption and bad governance. This is why we are what we are today. I think we have a duty as a country to address the issues that have been affecting this country. The only way all of us can live peacefully in this country is if the majority of Kenyans can feel that they have an entitlement in the affairs of the country; if a majority of Kenyans feel they have a stake in the future of their country. At the moment, if you look at what is happening in our country, I am afraid to say that a majority of Kenyans do not feel that they have a stake in the affairs of this country. That is very worrying. Those of us who have walked in the streets of Kampala and Nairobi--- When you walk in the streets of Kampala, which is our neighbouring country, even on the faces of the people in the streets, you see hope; you see people who have a reason to live. You see people who are struggling to make ends meet and believe they have a chance to make it. When you walk in the streets of Nairobi - and a colleague has just mentioned it – you will see lines and queues of people on Mbagathi Road as early as 4.00 a.m. They will be streaming from Kibera to Industrial Area. That sort of development is not good for our country. I think as the leaders of this country, a time has come when we must rise above partisan considerations and look at those issues that will make every Kenyan, no matter their income levels, feel that, indeed, they are proud to call themselves Kenyans. I think the sense of pride, sense of patriotism, the sense of 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."
}