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"content": "then called the bottom of Moi Avenue. Sen. Mutula Kilonzo had just opened his office upstairs in Atlas House. That is the time when I knew him and started interacting with him as a colleague. I have known him all those years as a lawyer and person against whom I argued cases. We acted sometimes on the same side in certain transactions and he was always there, particularly for the younger lawyers. I met him in Parliament in 2003 when I was first elected as a Member of Parliament. We got along very well, not just as lawyers, but because we had known each other for a long time. We discussed the issues that we had to deal with as Members of Parliament, particularly those that had to do with the law. Mr. Speaker, Sir, last week on Thursday when we had a breakfast meeting with the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), I sat next to him and we discussed many things. Among the things that I remember discussing with him that morning, as we were being briefed by the CRA, was when they discussed about marginalized areas. We were talking about the Equalization Fund being shared among 14 counties that are said to be marginalized. Working quickly, we saw that it was coming to about Kshs20 million per county that is marginalized. We discussed with him what a pittance that kind of money is. If it is supposed to equalize counties that are said to be marginalized, it is not sufficient. We agreed that was an issue that needed to be taken up on board when the budget for the counties would be discussed. We sat together in this Chamber and I remember challenging him to participate in the discussion on the Presidential Address. But I know that he never got a chance to participate in that Address. We learnt about his death as we were attending the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) Conference in Mombasa. That is when we were informed that our colleague had passed on. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is unfortunate that we have lost hon. Mutula Kilonzo. He was a very good lawyer. We can use a lot of epithets about him, but he was a very good lawyer. Above all, he believed in himself and what he believed in. He did not play around with words. He said what he thought and believed in. He and I, of course, disagreed on many issues, as people should, particularly lawyers, but that did not diminish the respect that I had for him. I know for sure that I have lost a friend. We have lost somebody who was going to make a major contribution, in my very honest opinion, to the work of this House of Senate. But then it is beyond us now. He has gone to rest. I am sure that was going to be, but I would never have thought he was going to leave us when he did. Mr. Speaker, Sir, if we think about his death or passing on, then we would say as it is stated in the Bible, that truly, “he has fought a good fight and finished the race.” All we can do is to wish his family strength because they have been left and that is where the pain is which we may not understand. As one of our colleagues said, I wish that we, as Kenyans, particularly those of us that are leaders, could accept that Mutula is not with us. At the moment, speculation about his death is not helping his family to deal with the pain and loss that they feel. The reason we have professionals or a pathologist who has come all the way to do the postmortem is so that we can know the truth. Once we know the truth, let us discuss the issues with full knowledge of what has happened. We, as leaders, should not join the fray of talking about things that we do not know at the moment because we do not know why Mutula Kilonzo is not with us. When we do, then we, as leaders, should be able to talk about it freely and with open minds, like Sen. Mutula Kilonzo would have wanted and done. 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."
}