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{
    "id": 494649,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/494649/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 97,
    "type": "other",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "was a must read at our “A” levels for anybody who wanted to broaden their mind. Mr. Speaker, Sir, one may recall that when Prof. Mazrui was in Uganda and Iddi Amin unlawfully took over the leadership of the country, he singularly challenged the morality, legality and the manner in which the dictator was running the country. In fact, he published an article that read: “Politics without morality leads to corruption and confusion.” On that note, Iddi Amin sent him out of Uganda in six hours and he left Makerere. Being the distinguished scholar he was, he could never lack a place to go to pursue his scholarly works. Prof. Mazrui used to give public lectures at The University of Nairobi, which was then the only university. The bookings to attend his lecture were massive. I remember at one time when I was in Form Six, we were ferried from Friends School Kamusinga to come and attend a Mazrui lecture. We had to do a booking for only 10 seats one month in advance. I have never regretted listening to him on that day. Mr. Speaker, Sir, you may recognize that at the dawn of Independence when we had intellectually driven Heads of State in Africa; Mwalimu Nyerere and Milton Obote in particular, Prof. Ali Mazrui used to go to Makerere and Dar es Salaam universities and engaged these Heads of State in public debate. Everybody used to see the value of this kind of intellectual orientation. Unfortunately for Prof. Ali Mazrui, like we say, many prophets are never recognized in their homes. You will find that all the acknowledgement and honour given to Prof. Ali Mazrui, his country of origin never recognized him until very late in the day. You may recall that the Government of Kenya once invited Prof. Mazrui to come to the country through the university, I believe, for some academic discourse. But because of what he said that rattled the Government of the day, he was evicted from the Intercontinental Hotel here and sent out of his own country to go back to America, where he was teaching. It is a bit of a shame; a shame that we collectively carry as a country for not recognizing our distinguished sons. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I salute the immediate former President, hon. Mwai Kibaki. When he came to power, he quickly noticed and recognized the value of using distinguished and accomplished intellectuals in running our public universities. That is the time we stopped having the President as the know-it-all Chancellor of every university in the land; professor number one, mkulima number one and everything number one. Hon. Mwai Kibaki relinquished the position of Chancellor of every public university and that is when Prof. Ali Mazrui, for the very first time in his life, was honoured in his country. He was appointed the Chancellor of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). He did a sterling job even in old age as his health looked like it was deteriorating. Mr. Speaker, Sir, through his scholarship, we are talking of a man who was rated among the world’s top 100 public intellectuals by readers of Prospect Magazine of the United Kingdom (UK), which is a foreign policy magazine of Washington. Being among 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."
}