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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I appreciate what many Senators have said. It is true. The Swahili saying goes, “Mwacha mila ni mtumwa.” I am embarrassed when my friends and I visit each other. Sometimes a grandmother has come from the village. Children bear Meru names, others Kikuyu names, et cetera. In our naming system, each child is named after the husband or the wife of the grandmother or grandfather but they cannot greet each other. When President Obama came as a Senator and went to visit the grandmother, he was accompanied by his sister who was translating between Dholuo and English. The sister was away for a while. President Obama and Mama Sarah were left alone. This is a grandson but they could not talk, they kept on looking at each other and smiling until the sister came. When the sister came, Mama Sarah told her that the boy is bright like his father. However, she wondered why he could not speak to her the way his father used to. Of course, the sister had to translate that. So, we are creating a very awkward society with people who have no backward linkages with their community and, therefore, we shall have a rootless society. That is why a few of my friends and I have decided to register a Kimeru Institute to have our children attend one week holiday training to be taught Kimeru greetings and relations of who is who and that is a very important bit of our history. The Meru people came from a place called “Mbwaa.” In Kimeru, that means “Pwani.” That is a place near Lamu and Manda Island and that is where we came from. Some people have already made some bus trips there to trace the journey of how the Meru people came from “Mbwaa” near Manda Island to the foot of Mount Kenya. That is very good history. It is like what is in the Bible. For example, in the Bible, people crossed River Nile going to Israel. Likewise, the Meru people had a similar journey. So, we need this history to be told to our children. Sad will be the day when this history will be captured by Sen. Murungi and sold as if it is mine. The story belongs to the community and it should be for community benefit and enjoyed by the community. I do not want to spend a lot of time because we have to move. Again, we need to look at the definitions in Clause 2. I think these definitions are very broad that even if the Bill was to be implemented, it would be impossible for either the national or county governments to implement all these things we are talking about. When you talk about cultural expressions, you are supposed to document verbal expressions including stories, epics, legends, poetry, riddles and other narratives, words and signs. That is a whole language because a language is made of words and, therefore, it could also be documented. Musical expressions including songs and instrumental music, expressions by movements, including dances, plays, rituals and other performances, tangible expressions, drawings, archings, terra-cotta and mosaic are also supposed to document cultural heritage. Others that can be documented include movable cultural heritage, immovable cultural heritage under water, intangible things and natural heritage including natural sites and heritage in the event of armed conflict. What heritage are we going to capture and sell? Is it the Post-Election Violence (PEV)? Therefore, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is a Bill that the intellectuals in this Senate need to look at again and redraft it in a manner that can be implemented. I know that the Constitution provides for such a law to be made but I do not think it is this law 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"
}