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{
    "id": 583020,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/583020/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 399,
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    "content": "compelled. One of the ways that you can be compelled is attaching your property or being committed to civil jail. The other point which, maybe, that the President is speaking loudly, but he is not speaking directly to us, by telling us that Kenya is indeed bankrupt. You have seen some Government assets being seized overseas because people could not pay. I tend to believe that the President is telling us that Kenya is bankrupt; we have lived beyond our means. Probably we are borrowing too much and, therefore, we are not in a position to pay and instead of going for orders of contempt; if it were possible to undertake bankruptcy proceedings against the Republic of Kenya, probably that could be a better way of ensuring payment. However, what is more worrying is that this argument that we have got a big wage bill; this narrative cannot be correct because this country does not have enough teachers. We should be employing more teachers. In fact, if you go to every ward and constituency, people are demanding for more teachers. The teachers that we have to pay are not more than 200,000. What they are demanding is not pay as it were but an increment which has been worked out through a court process. As an economy that is growing, we need to have people in the education sector, particularly teachers. A nation that is not properly educated cannot be turned into a middle income economy. Madam Temporary Speaker, I know that in this country, we are going through a difficult time. When we talk about this issue of teachers, in respect to the rest of Kenyans, it is probably an affair that we can debate in a little leisure but when we are talking about teachers in north eastern or northern part of Kenya, there is another angle that is brought into play. The teachers are not working because they are not paid but teachers are not going to the north eastern because there is no security. This shows that there is total failure. I want to conclude by saying that the other day, we had the President of South Africa being impeached because of disobedience of a court order. We will bring governors here because they have sworn to protect and defend the Constitution. One of the foundation values of a republic is the rule of law. The President is a defender of the Constitution. If the President himself is saying “cannot pay and will not pay” and he is the protector and defender of the Constitution, then we are becoming a banana republic. I better put it as bluntly as that. Those words cannot be heard in a serious democratic and constitutional nation that is guided by laws. Madam Temporary Speaker, I hope that teachers will not give up because the law allows them to demand for their right so long as they are doing it in accordance with the law. So far, teachers have continued to make their demands in accordance with law. Once they relent, I am sure that the Government will fall back and not pay them. If you want to know that there is a lot of money around, take a ride in the morning. When I take I ride in the morning to my office, I find State Cabinet Secretaries in lead cars, escorts and chasers. They have nothing to fear. If Sen. Sang has nothing to fear, what about a Cabinet Secretary who does not have to go back to the people for votes? There is a lot of money lying around in this country. We must make sure that teachers get their right."
}