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{
    "id": 457069,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/457069/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 241,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I am normally on the other side, but I am made to understand that there is free sitting. I am a national Member. That is what I was told nominated Members stand for. Once you are elected, you remain loyal to your electorate. Nomination is the way you get into the House. But once you are elected, you represent special interest on a national scope. I represent the youth interests. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, two months ago, I made my first trip ever to Kapenguria; to a place where the Kapenguria Six were held. For the first time, I saw the conditions under which they lived. Of course, the place is much better because they had to re-do the place and make it a museum. But I saw the conditions under which six of our heroes lived in for many months. I sat in the cell where Jomo Kenyatta was held. Actually, the span of the wall was like the span of my hand. I could touch each side and I thought we should really recognize Kenyans even beyond them. But, really, the essence of the struggle that this country went through and the kind of heroes in various fields, we can never get the perspective. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I shudder at the thought of a country that is out of touch with its past, those who have made serious sacrifices and shown exemplary leadership. They offered service towards humanity beyond their own comfort and that of their families. A country that forgets such people cannot find its bearing; cannot find its place and cannot curve out an identity. You will realize that without an identity, we cannot have a vision as a country. We can even forget about Vision 2030, if we do not know who we are as Kenyans and what it is that makes us a Kenyan people proud of our heritage. If we are not aware of that heritage, then we are just 40 million people who found themselves within the same borders. It is for this reason that I really support this Bill, despite the fact that I do not think that we would have gone to the point of legislating to recognize our heroes. I do not think we need to do much research to know who our heroes are; because heroes are people who are known through the sacrifices they have made in different fields. We have that perspective of what we went through even from the time of the imperialist, as we let go of the shackles of colonialism. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, even what our country goes through right now; which in some respect is called renewed neo-colonialism; would have had serious perspective as a country. We should know the struggles others went through before and we should say: “Never again should this happen to any African or Kenyan in our soil.” I would like to suggest that this Bill, even as it moves to the Third Reading, must become a bit bolder; we must be bolder. The Bill does not define who a hero is and it is the heroes Bill! It is says: “A hero is a hero as defined.”Let me read the definition. 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."
}