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"content": "issues that matter to this country, so that Kenya continues to speak as one sovereign and united country, in which the very values and principles set out in the Constitution will continue to be the foundation. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I must also add that I am very happy and proud that I am sitting here with G.G. Kariuki. This particular Senator really harassed me in the first Parliament that I joined. It is good to see him sitting as an ordinary person in the Senate Chamber, because those days, he used even to ride in the President’s limousine. So, I did not even know whether he was a co-President or just a simple Minister in charge of internal security. Those days, they used to exercise raw power, but it is good that over time, I have won and he has lost, because the old system lost and now we have a new system of Government. But all the same, he has been a good friend of mine and we are here now acting together. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I have got three main points. One, the Constitution of Kenya requires vigilance. When Kenya attained her Independence, there were high spirits about the Constitution that was enunciated and received from Lancaster. Indeed, we forget that during the negotiation of that Constitution, the Bill of Rights became part of that Constitution, because of the contribution of the minorities, particularly what was called, at that time, the Maasai Front. They are the ones who insisted at Lancaster that the Bill of Rights was very important, because it was important to distinguish between a majoritarian state, in which the majority have their way and the minority have their say. But this community said: “No, that is not democracy. Democracy is about rights.” The majoritarians’principle of saying that the majority will have their way, I think is a wrong principle of liberal democracy. The proper interpretation and understanding of a liberal democracy is that rights are rights and once they exist, it does not matter whether you come from a minority or majority. When you are right, you are right; whether you are in the minority or majority. It is not about the majority, but what is right and in accordance with the law and the Constitution. So, I think that this Senate should live up to this, because we had times, if you remember, when we had the likes of J. M. Kariuki and Seroney using the Floor of the House to stand on issues that were correct and proper for this country. But because they were considered to be out of place in terms of those who wielded power at that time, they not only suffered the fate that we know, but also paid for it in a manner that I think will not happen again in the modern Kenya. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I hope that the experiences that we had in the past will not happen. I am very happy that we can now speak as we want. These are the gains of those sacrifices. There were days that if you spoke in Parliament, you would not know whether or not you would reach home, because there would be a policeman waiting for you to go and explain why you spoke in a certain fashion. But I think that those are times that will never come again in Kenya. Mr. Speaker, Sir, my second issue is about elections. I think that Kenya has come of age. The fact that we are continuing with the business of Government and Parliament is in place is a great demonstration that Kenya has come of age. But I must add that elections are very critical. It is important that when people come out of elections, you have the feeling that nothing went wrong. All over the world, particularly in the Third World, what causes conflict and trouble are elections; that people come out of elections feeling cheated. Whether they are right or not is not important. But so long as some 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."
}