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{
    "id": 423427,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/423427/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 217,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Zani",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13119,
        "legal_name": "Agnes Zani",
        "slug": "agnes-zani"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for this opportunity to contribute to this very emotive Motion this afternoon. Let me start by recognizing those whom we have not honoured enough. We should have recognized them enough. We have not done enough as a society to appreciate what they have done in terms of trying to ensure that we have a better Kenya. Thank God also that we have a new Constitution that recognizes the Bill of Rights and emphasizes the need for freedom, social, economic and cultural rights that are envisaged and must be exercised by everybody. I think it is truly important that everybody lives a life of dignity, a life of justification and that social justice is upheld. Unfortunately, many Kenyans have not been able to do that. During the 1970s and the 1980s, there were a lot of human rights abuses. There was no freedom and people could not speak up their minds. I remember when I was in the University of Nairobi, you never knew who had been planted in lecture rooms to give information. Many people went into detention. When you spoke and you were found to have said certain things, then you were taken in. It was not possible to go through proper trials. All that culminated in the coup of 1982; this was symbolic of the misgivings that the Kenyan society had at that time. During the 1982 coup, we lost about 100 soldiers and more than 200 of them were hurt. Two Asian women took away their lives because they had been raped during the coup d’etat. It is very sad that as a result, many people suffered. I think it is the aftermath and the way the situation was handled that brought more catastrophes. It was impossible to go into detail in making sure that justice is given to those who were involved. We ended up with about 900 soldiers being jailed. This had terrible effects on their families because no one would handle livelihoods since they would be in jail. This meant that the same freedoms, socio-economic rights, their education that was catered for, housing and security went away at once. It is unfortunate that even as the socio-economic privileges were taken away, the impact, especially the psychological impact for those families have not been taken into consideration. So, we have a generation of people who are suffering from psychological effects. They have not addressed the issues of the suffering that they went through because their parents and loved ones suffered these social injustices. Most soldiers who went through Court Martial did not have a chance to defend themselves. Some ended up losing their jobs. I know of one particular young man that I met two years ago. He was looking for help so that he could take care of his family. He said that he was one of the people who lost their jobs after the 1982 coup and he could not take his children to school or cater for himself. That one gentleman is symbolic of many others who could not play their rightful roles. Others were not lucky enough and people like Jinan and Ojode were hanged. They made appeals which they lost. They finally lost their lives. This happened in a very fast mode and pace which reflects the injustices that were meted on such people. I am looking at the constitutional provision in terms of the Bill of Rights; not only now but even how those victims can benefit from the Bill of rights as per now. The question we should ask ourselves is; what can we do? The aspect of perpetrators seeking for forgiveness is very important and that was why the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) was set up. The TJRC also had a provision that there would be an implementation clause automatically. You create wounds and open the wounds when you 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."
}