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{
    "id": 51594,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/51594/?format=api",
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    "content": "A hon. Member talked about disposing of bodies. The Constitution guarantees that every community in this country should have freedom of religion and respect for our traditions. Therefore, as much as I respect Muslims, disposing a body the same afternoon one dies, is not the way to go. Mr. Affey, is my friend but let every Kenyan live the way they feel best and according to their traditions, but we should also educate our people. Some of the expenses we undergo to bury a body are not necessary. Jesus was buried in a very simple manner, but today, we want to create a king out of a dead man by trying to conduct a very big ceremony. If somebody was a poor fellow whom you got out of the mortuary through difficulty, for heaven’s sake, dispose his body simply. Do not bring out all these ritual feasting. What are you doing? You are disrespecting that man. Why do you want to buy him a new suit when he is dead? Let him go just the way he lived. God will give him prosperity in heaven. So, we should also change as we go along. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in conclusion, I want to say that the issue before us is not just about the body. The issue before us is what Kenya are we in now? Where are we heading? We have seen demonstrations. I will re-table my Motion on price control. For purposes of amendments, I will call it: “Price Regulation Bill”. But the issue is a leadership in a country cannot bury its head in the sand and assume that the difficulties people are experiencing will disappear just like that. This must stop. We must ask ourselves what policies we have for this country. Why has Kenya been subjected to where it is where we have to have Motion to talk about waiving fees for bodies in the mortuary? Why has it become necessary to do so? We need another Motion to say that this Government should ensure that every Kenyan can afford staple food. Make maize flour affordable to many Kenyans. We will bring another Motion to discuss food prices in this country instead of discussing how we can take Kenya another step in development. Currently, we are preoccupied in our minds with the difficulties we have created. What are we doing? Politicking? What are we doing? We are busy implementing foreign policies that do not help this country at all? All these years, the whole of Africa has been shedding tears. We have always been told to implement IMF reforms, World Bank reforms and the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs). Let us grow more cassava in Ukambani, so that we can have more food? Have these policies brought better prices for the coffee farmers? Have these reforms assisted a father to be able to educate his children? No. Can we go back? Actually, I urge this House to re-think about Session Paper No.10 which was written by the late Tom Mboya together with our present President Kibaki. It puts down the policies that this country should have adhered to. We all remember that during the first years of Independence, we had ample economic growth. Life was better in my area because people followed the policies enacted by Session Paper No.10. But somewhere along the line, things happened and we were told there are other policies from Harvard and wherever, which America does not follow and yet, here we continue aping them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is high time Kenyan leaders sat down and came up with policies which we have thought-through. We should look at our history, for"
}