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{
    "id": 696719,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/696719/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 147,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Eng.) Gumbo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 24,
        "legal_name": "Nicholas Gumbo",
        "slug": "nicholas-gumbo"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Speaker, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Bill. Allow me to start by echoing the views of my colleagues who have spoken before me. The idea of Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bills, as I understand it – in fact, even if you look at the Memorandum of Objects and Reasons – is supposed to make minor amendments. The Memorandum of Objects and Reasons starts by saying that the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, 2015 is in keeping with the practice of making minor amendments which do not merit the publication of a separate Bill. That object is good. But, unfortunately, over the years, we have used the avenue of Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill to bring what I would call mischief into law-making. I am not sure that where you are changing, for example, the composition of a board, is a minor amendment. That is because boards are the policy-making organs and they provide oversight for our institutions in this country, and where you are completely reorganising a board, that cannot be a miscellaneous amendment. I am happy to the extent that we are addressing the issue of copyright in this country. I am one person who has spoken on the Floor of this House and said that if we were to have strong copyright laws in Kenya, the talents that our people continue showing day-in, day-out would be converted into wealth not just for themselves, but for the whole country. I looked at the career of the late Benson Wanjau or Ojwang’ Hatari spanning several decades. I am told he did his trade for close to 40 years. It is a pity that such a talented man, at the time of his death, could not even afford a medical bill in a public hospital. This speaks to the structural weaknesses that we, as a country, have failed to address, particularly with regard to rewarding what I would call natural talent. I look at the performances of some of our artists and no one can convince me that the talents that we see in the Mama Kayais of this world; the talents that we see in the late Ojwang’ Hataris of this world are much more superior than the talents that we pay a lot of money to get from people like Bill Cosby. So, this is an issue that we have to address. That is natural talent as opposed to acquired talent. It is something that is God-given, 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."
}