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{
    "id": 477987,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/477987/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 195,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Katoo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 199,
        "legal_name": "Judah Katoo Ole-Metito",
        "slug": "judah-ole-metito"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Speaker. I rise to support this Motion. First of all, I would like to agree with my good friend hon. Ng’ongo and Chair of the Committee, hon. Chepkong’a that maybe a lot needed to be done on this Act. If you read the Report on Page 2, the Secretary to the National Cohesion and Integration Committee, Dr. Owino, said to the Committee that they are doing a lot as the Secretariat to align the Act to the new Constitution; the only Constitution we have as a country. But we have to live with the laws as they are, until this House makes the necessary changes. Let me thank the Committee for trying to do a lot of regional balancing. If you look at the list, we have 15 nominees from 14 counties. There is only one county in the name of Kakamega that has two nominees. That makes it 14 counties. The county has two nominees, No. 6 and No. 14. That is no problem at all. So, I was saying that at least out of the 47 counties, they picked names from 14 counties. Also, in terms of gender, more than half of the nominees in the list are women; Eight out of 15. That is really giving the President a leeway to find the most suitable names so as to balance interests. The President will only pick chairperson and eight other commissioners out of the15. I always ask myself, suppose you resign and the President does not pick your name out of the 15, what happens? It will even be good to resign after your name has been picked. Let me also say that, as a politician, it is always good not to condemn ourselves to an extent that we are deemed not qualified or you do not warrant or merit to serve this country in any position. I thank the Committee because if you look at the list, they have picked former politicians who were in this House. Hon. Morris Dzoro was our Minister for Tourism and Wildlife. Therefore, that is very good consideration for our career as politicians. I want to say that no one is more qualified than hon. ole Kaparo. If you read the Act, it says a person shall be qualified for appointment as a commissioner if such a person is of high moral character and has proven integrity. He should have knowledge and experience in matters relating to race, ethnicity, human rights relation, public affairs and human rights. Having served as the Speaker of the National Assembly for 15 uninterrupted years, he deserves to serve in that position. Anyone who has served as the Speaker of the National Assembly in this country merits chairing or being a Commissioner of this Commission. We must also understand as politicians, first and foremost, what are the functions of this Commission? This commission is going to monitor what we say as politicians. I like what the seconder of this Motion, hon. Kaluma, said when he talked of dialogue. Some of us when we are addressing our rallies digress. These are the things that are going to be followed by this Commission. We also need politicians to be in this Commission because they understand the political background of these Members. Take for instance, the Kibunja Mzalendo-led commission, the only politicians that they took to court were sitting politicians in the entire time and they were only three; hon. Kutuny, hon. Kapondi and hon. Machage, the current Senator for Migori County. By that time, they were all allied to the Government side of the day. That does not really say that we 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."
}