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{
    "id": 60538,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/60538/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 249,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, more importantly, as we go on with these reforms, it is so good that the Grand Coalition Government has held to-date. I have no doubt that it will hold to the end. However, the heightened rhetoric in the country – this came out very clearly in your Speech and in the President’s Speech – and the reckless political manoeuvres we are seeing are not good for the country. As I heard somebody say, you cannot stop politicians from talking politics. That is something they will do always, but we want people to exercise diligence, caution and care by watching their language and treating each other with dignity. We have seen politicians at various levels throwing very unhelpful break bats at each other; break bats which do not help to bring together Kenyans to embrace the spirit of the new Constitution so that we can reap its benefits. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as politicians, whatever we say; wherever we say it, and to whoever we say it, matters. When we have politicians running around the country, abusing each other with total abundance, it does not help to bring peace to this country. This country went through a very frightening experience. Many African countries which tested what we tested for even shorter times, went completely off-gear and took decades to recover. Cote d’Ivoire and Chad are some of them. We are lucky that the Kenyan leadership came together very quickly and realised the need to hold our country together. We do not want to go that route again. We do not want to create a situation where, as leaders, wherever we go, we are engaged in discussions and speeches that do not help to embrace peace in the country. As the newly elected party leader for my party of FORD (K), I will play my role and my party will contribute fully towards the creation of an enabling environment in this country so as to have peaceful engagements and for politicians to carry themselves with dignity and responsibility, so that we can achieve the spirit we all fought for in this new Constitution. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I end by urging you once again; that how you handle us and bring us together to look at these legislations will determine the quality of the legislations we are going to give the country. It is not enough to roll out Bills and turn them into Acts of Parliament. They must be Bills of quality. They must be Bills which reflect the spirit of the new Constitution, and which must reflect the interests of the people of this country. They must be Bills devoid of negative sectoral interests which may be driven into the Bills to just protect cocoons of interests instead of serving the people of this country. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}