Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 451961,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/451961/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 364,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mwaura",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13129,
        "legal_name": "Isaac Maigua Mwaura",
        "slug": "isaac-mwaura"
    },
    "content": "that is part of this report is about the mall that actually symbolises the economic growth of this country and the middle class sophistication of this country. The people who are up there are high spenders and there are Kenyans from all walks of life; in particular people who were making meaningful contribution in their places of work, their families and any form of public endeavor--- Hon. Deputy Speaker, when I look at this report, I get worried because it seems not to really address the root causes clearly with regard to this specific incident. I think the report dwells on generalities and it is not specific on key interventions that would help this country move forward. It is important to locate the terrorism discourse within various ideological differences; of course what has been happening is that--- It is, indeed, an international war. We need to ask ourselves, as a country, why it is that we are so susceptible to these attacks. Why is it that Kenya within the span of 10 years has been vulnerable? Of course, a quick answer will be that it is because of our intervention in Somalia. But even before that intervention, this country was still attacked. You remember the August 7th 1998 bomb blast, the Kikambala attack and so forth. I think there is a big failure with regard to how this country has been organizing its own security. In fact, the Westgate attack, was really the theatre of the absurd. Even some of the pronouncements were very awkward. Sometimes we were even told it was because of the moment--- Some statements were really comical. I think at some point we were even told that the building was coming down because of mattresses that were burning. That taking of Kenyans for granted or for a ride is totally unacceptable. Hon. Deputy Speaker, if you look at why we were attacked, it was because of our porous border with Somalia. But more importantly, it was because of corruption; you can actually give some little money in this country and compromise the security of others. Our security officials have been cast in bad light to the extent that it was questioned--- There were even allegations of looting of the mall businesses. The explanation given later was that people had carried water in paper bags. I am wondering really whether there was no water in the barracks. Hon. Deputy Speaker, we need to be true to the real issue at hand. The real issue here is corruption. It is laziness and compromise of our own national institutions even with regard to how we issue our passports and national identity cards. Anybody, as long as they can pay some little money here and there, can compromise our own integrity. We must also ask ourselves, as Kenyans, whether we would like to have a higher calling; whether we would want to be more patriotic to this country. We also want to realize that there is something that we hold dearly, and which we cannot lose. Hon. Deputy Speaker, Kenyans have got a role with regard to ensuring that there is global security. I think we must look at how, indeed, we can actually provide long lasting solutions. There have been strong arguments around the fact that our security budget is still low. I beg to differ because we will need also to ask what we have done with the little that we actually have; what is it that we are doing? Just in the previous debate, there was a submission to this House that even within the Nairobi National Park, the only rhino that was there was actually killed by poachers. It means, therefore, that anybody can be subjected to attacks. Hon. Deputy Speaker, hon. Members of this House, including hon. Maanzo, have been attacked. Therefore, nobody is actually safe. It is not really a question of spending, 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."
}