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{
    "id": 603821,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/603821/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 261,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Kanyua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 981,
        "legal_name": "Priscilla Nyokabi Kanyua",
        "slug": "priscilla-nyokabi-kanyua"
    },
    "content": "that they would not get jiggers, which we call ndutu in Nyeri. You can imagine how sad that is; that we have children who go to primary school and get jiggers in school because the classes are made of mud. Eng. Muriuki Karue got this very good idea of solving problems in our localities, constituencies and counties. As a believer of the Constitution, I am also aware that the Constitution is a living document. It is interpreted in context and not read like a text book. You cannot open Article 97 and say that MPs are supposed to sit here and pass laws. The people who voted for us in our constituencies expect us to be agents of development and change. If you are an MP here wearing a good suit and a tie and you have children in your village in a classroom with jiggers, there is nothing to be proud of. There is no law that can address the jiggers in your county. The only way out is to have development going on in the constituencies where we come from. The Constitution we are interpreting and implementing must allow that aspiration. The Constitution was not an end in itself. We were passing a good Constitution to get to development. People should not think that we were passing a good Constitution so that we can have a good Constitution with separation of power. Judges have a very easy life. They sit in the courtrooms and do not see or talk to citizens. So, it is easy for them to sit down and say: “Let us have separation of power where a judge sits in court and he is guarded and the citizens never get to him.” That is not the case for parliamentarians. When you go down to the village, you find a bridge that is broken down or children who need to go to school, but they are not. The CDF is useful. Hon. Members are not implementers; they are merely agents of change and development in their constituencies. That is what this law is going to allow. As we support this Bill, we hope that our judges will agree that, at least, for the next 10 years, we need MPs who are able to influence development and not to implement again and again. I beg to support this Bill and urge all the Members to support it. I urge our judges to allow the Constitution to be a living document and to be interpreted in relation to the aspirations of all Kenyans. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker."
}