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"content": "reason enough not to respect and honour our men and women in uniform and those who risk their lives for the sake of the stability and security of our country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is unfortunate that we have lost a number of soldiers in Somalia. However, as the President said, that only emboldens us. It makes us bolder as a nation to upgrade our resolve and tighten our commitment to make sure that we fight until we secure our borders, once and for all. It is, therefore, unfortunate for any person of whatever rank; elected or not, to trivialize certain national symbols of national events or reminders. These are things that remind us of what we stand for and what we aspire to be as a nation. We are living in extraordinary times and in the context of the Presidential Address, time has come to reflect on the nationalist covenant and find out how we, as a nation, can rebirth ourselves. The Senate being the House of reflection on important national issues, we cannot understate its responsibility in helping the country to stir into the next generation and phase of national development. In particular, I would like to highlight the important role of devolution in providing the next epoch of our national rebirth and development. I say so, because as the President noted towards the end of his Address, it is true, that we, as a nation, have gone through a lot of challenges. It is true that we are quite divided. Part of that division has been caused by irresponsible leadership, inequity and past injustices that have been visited on the people of Kenya. It is in that context that devolution in the Constitution of Kenya 2010 was designed to correct some of the injustices and inequities. Therefore, the Senate being “the guardian angel of devolution” and charged with protecting devolution and making sure that it works, has an important duty to the present and future generations to ensure that this country remains equitable and united. Therefore, we must confront any threat to devolution whether it comes from external forces by those who believe in the centralism and those who have not accepted that power today has been dispersed and is shared between the national and county governments. More importantly, this Senate must provide reflections and solutions on how we can make sure that the dreams and aspirations of the makers of the Constitution are not stolen, diluted or impacted negatively by internal threats to devolution which are proving to be more vicious and powerful than the external threats that we have adopted in our country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have for a long time as a country taken our nationalist covenant for granted. For a very long time, we have assumed that the things that we enjoy are enjoyed without effort. Nevertheless, time has come for us to remind ourselves that the nationalist covenant is sacred. In honour of our people, country, history and God of all creation as stated in our National Anthem, we must rededicate ourselves to preserving certain core values that bring us together as a nation. Allow me to demonstrate what I am saying. My lesson as a student of democracy and international affairs - I have learnt in my inquiry that if we want to create a stable and united nation, we must separate the institutions and values of the nation from the individuals who occupy those positions. In other words, you might not like a certain person who occupies a position, but you must love your country. For the sake of the love of your country, certain respects must be paid to the people who occupy certain positions The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}