{"id":636585,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/636585/?format=json","text_counter":362,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Lati","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":2762,"legal_name":"Jonathan Lelelit Lati","slug":"jonathan-lelelit-lati"},"content":"Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Thank God the Almighty, I have nothing in relation to KANU past, present or future. I am surprised that in this House today, the people that I respect very much because of their stand and knowing what KANU did to Kenyans many years are today propagating positive things about KANU. I think we forget very quickly. I have nothing to do with KANU for now and forever. I rise in support of this Bill because it has special aspects that are very palatable particularly to people like us who come from areas where political parties are given almost zero attention. The fact that this Bill recognises something called “marginalised” is a step forward in the political reorganisation and management of our parties in Kenya. Parties raise a lot of excitement and everything in parts of our country in places called down country but in northern Kenya, they raise very little. In fact, a few days ago, I was telling my friends in a small conversation about who will go to CORD and who will go to Jubilee. I told them that where I come from, and I thank God for that, parties do not matter. If the Samburu think I am a good leader, I can be elected in a party called ng’ombe, mbuzi or even camel. It does not matter. I know that without good management of parties, some of our good friends who are very good leaders in this House could be affected and thrown out because of the kind of management that we have in parties. So, I thank this Bill for recognising marginalised communities. I hope the people who will be running these parties will go a step further and make sure that marginalised communities, as they are, because everybody now claims marginalisation, are recognised in each of the political parties that we will have in our country. The issue of inclusiveness is also another very attractive aspect in this Bill. As I said, parties in this country tend to be very regional. There are parties for Western Kenya, the Coast and Central Kenya. If we take a serious look, there is some correlation between this non- inclusiveness and regionalism of parties in Kenya and the kind of tribal clashes we have in this country. People tend to associate with particular parties even beyond leadership. Even when leaders have gone like Matiba and everybody, people of Central Kenya will galvanise around some party as a region and they do not like anybody who is not in that party. There is some correlation as I said to the tribal clashes that we have had in our country. I am hoping that with the kind of Bill that we have here today, if parties were all inclusive and non-regional, we will go a long way in making sure that we reduce tribal clashes around election dates in our country. It will help foster harmony within our people if all people think they belong to a certain party, irrespective of where you come from. The Bill goes a long way to do that. We should disqualify parties that do not include people like Samburu and the Borana. You must be inclusive. You cannot be inclusive when almost 100 per cent of your membership is Kikuyu or Luo. That is lack of inclusivity. We want to have parties that we all belong to as Kenyans that half the leadership of Samburu would be in some party and the other half of it in another party. That is democracy. Let us borrow from what is in the USA today. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."}