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{
    "id": 661033,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/661033/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 274,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 440,
        "legal_name": "Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen",
        "slug": "kipchumba-murkomen"
    },
    "content": "(Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki): Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to move that the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 48 of 2015) be read a Second Time. This Bill gives effect to three articles of the Constitution; Article 11 on Culture, Article 40 on Right to Property and Article 69(1) on the Protection of the Environment. This Bill is about a very important aspect of our national life which is the protection of traditional knowledge and cultural expression. This Bill is one of the many Bills that we will enact in the next month or two to give effect to the Constitution of Kenya 2010. Therefore, I hope that through this debate, we will enrich it and pass it in record time because we have so many of such Bills that we must deal with. For a long time, African developing countries like Kenya and others have been living in a very difficult scientific and technological world where knowledge has been classified as modern knowledge and traditional knowledge. However, the definition of modern knowledge and technology has always been warped in the sense that any knowledge that is not Western knowledge has been frowned upon and looked upon unfavorably in the definition of “knowledge” in world affairs. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, Kenyans will recall a while ago, there were some incidents in this country. The first incident was about ten years ago and it involved a sixteen year old boy in Kitale who was in Form Three. He used some locally available material to develop his own version of an aircraft. He promised Kenyans that he would fly that aeroplane. He used some tarmacked road in Kitale as his runway. Unfortunately, there was no take off. The machine made a lot of noise and emitted a lot of smoke. What surprised me was the aftermath of that attempt. That boy was ridiculed by very many people. According to me, that underscores why a country like ours, is doing very badly in the area of science and technology. If I was the Minister for Science and Technology at that time, I would have engaged that boy. Despite the fact that the boy did not succeed, he is a person who should have got an internship opportunity in a well established and leading aircraft manufacturing institution to go and learn aeronautical engineering. The fact that what he was doing did not succeed, does not mean that he was not bright. You will recall that when the Wright Brothers made their first aircraft in 1903, the Minister in charge of transport in Britain at that time dismissed them and said that they will never fly. Only for the first Trans Atlantic flight to take place ten years later. Today, everyone in the world understands how critical aviation has become to modern life. We have had a lot of innovations in this country. However, the way we look at attempts at scientific research and innovation has been lopsided. 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"
}