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{
    "id": 570805,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/570805/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 235,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, another approach to making sure we immortalize our heroes is on the issue of naming roads. As we speak, just a few months ago, one of the county assemblies and in particular the Nairobi County Assembly, moved a Motion that recommended that roads in Nairobi be named after the inaugural leadership of Nairobi County. That meant that a road would be named Governor Evans Kidero Road. In fact, there is a road that had already been named Governor Evans Kidero Road around Galleria. It is a good thing that the public pulled that down. The Motion that came out of the Assembly stated that after the governor, there will be the deputy governor, the speaker and all MCAs would have roads named after them. There has to be away that this Senate gives guidance to our county assemblies. If we are not serious, we will end up with a national joke where every county will want roads to be named in their honour. Inaugural governors will be setting up statutes and monuments to immortalize them. Madam Temporary Speaker, when I come to speak on recommendations on this Bill, I would want to encourage that as we talk about the hall of fame, we should not just be thinking of a role of honour that is just in a book somewhere. We must immortalize these heroes by making sure that we provide guidelines for naming of roads, buildings and institutions. They must be good guidelines that will ensure that people who are alive do not abuse it to entrench and perpetuate themselves to immortality without going through some good procedures. In 1966, Joe Bedel Bokassa overthrew the President in his country and became the President. He declared himself an emperor in 1976. One of the remarkable things about his inauguration as emperor is that the commentator said that Joe Bedel Bokassa came to Bokassa Stadium which was next to Bokassa University which lay on Bokassa Avenue and which was next to Bokassa Statute. It was dramatic and laughable that emperor Bokassa in 1976 had all these institutions, roads and monuments named after him. Sometimes, I wonder what some of our early leaders did to this country that they have not even been able to get a single building, road or institution named in their honour. I had said that President Kibaki is the one who broke away from that mould of hiding other people who did not toe the line. Before President Kibaki, it was inconceivable to think that we are going to have Dedan Kimathi immortalized. There are people in this country like Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Bildad Kaggia, J.M. Kariuki and Robert Ouko - what sin did they do this nation that they do not even deserve to get a road or a backstreet named in their honour? In 1976, Joe Bedel Bokassa could go to Bokassa Stadium through Bokassa Avenue next to Bokassa Statue, look at it 37 years down the line. The example I am going to give is in no way trying to portray our current head of state in any bad light because he has not been involved in some of these things or some of the nomenclatures of this nation. If the President was to come back from Addis Ababa, where he has gone to, he would land at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), take Kenyatta Avenue or Mama Ngina Street to come to Kenyatta International Convention 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."
}