Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 59957,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/59957/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 292,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Affey",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 381,
        "legal_name": "Mohammed Abdi Affey",
        "slug": "mohammed-affey"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I have five minutes. The matter that I raised yesterday before the House adjourned was the matter of drought. I thought that the President, in his Speech, would have declared drought a national disaster, so that other agencies that can help the Government can come in and support communities that are suffering. After that, I had an issue that I raised about the debate surrounding the International Criminal Court (ICC). This matter is important because there is a lot of misinformation that is being peddled by politicians mainly for political reasons. I am one of those fellows who participated in the so-called shuttle diplomacy which I thought was a good thing for the country because the matter of the ICC has polarized the country. Because the country’s stability and unity is critical at this stage, there was need for the Government, and this was decided by the Cabinet together with the President, that actually they seek for a deferral. The deferral was not to say that we will defer those cases so that we try the six. The deferral that the Government was requesting was in order that essential mechanisms are first put in place and then investigations are conducted. If those investigations produce the same six, well and good, they will be tried. But they could as well produce a different set of personalities. The matter that was lost completely in the debate was the fact that we wanted, for the first time, after having a new dispensation, to reclaim our sovereignty properly, so that we could try anybody, not the six, but even more than the six that could be investigated afresh by the competent Kenyan authorities. There is concern now that every time we are faced with crisis, we look for foreign support. I was surprised yesterday to hear the Prime Minister saying that they will ask detectives to come from Europe to do investigations here. The last time it was an international Chief Justice and now we are in the ICC. This mater of the ICC, we should all be sober as Kenyans because if it is not handled properly, we could as well loss the State. If you look at the history of the ICC, all the cases that are before the ICC are African cases. There are very few Europeans that are not really considered Europeans. This is very dangerous because the trend now is to see how that court can be used to punish Africa and Africans. I was glad President Museveni and the Vice-President commented on this matter, actually what happened in Libya is not what happened in Cairo or Tunisia. It is completely different. What happened in Libya is a coup and the only way you can handle a coup is to confront it. It is unfortunate that civilian lives were lost. But now what do you get? International community like the Americans all coming in, in order to punish that State. If what is happening in Libya is anything to go by, it is a civil war. It is a clear civil war that is going to happen. Of course, nobody accepts the manner in which security forces in Libya acted, but the manner in which the international community acted is worse because the civilian casualties are more. We cannot keep quiet when matters like this are going on because they continue to affect us. So, I want to acknowledge the role played by the Government and the President."
}