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{
    "id": 755815,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/755815/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 94,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wamatangi Kimani Paul",
    "speaker_title": "The Senator for Kiambu County",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 646,
        "legal_name": "Paul Kimani Wamatangi",
        "slug": "paul-kimani-wamatangi"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I wish to join my colleagues to congratulate you on being elected the speaker of the second Senate of the Republic of Kenya. I want to confirm that I have no doubt that you will not only have the capacity, but you have the wherewithal to be able to lead this House and guide us through this session of the Second Senate. I also want to congratulate my colleagues who have been elected alongside with myself. We now find ourselves with the responsibility of carrying out the duties expected of us by Kenyans. May I also congratulate Kenyans because from when the campaigns started for nominations last year in September, continuing all way up to the month of May and now the general elections that were held in August, they conducted themselves in a unique and unexpected way. We know there were not only naysayers, but there were the negativists who expected this country to slide into chaos because of elections. However, Kenyans have proven a second time since the General Elections of 2007/2008, that neither our destiny nor our country should be defined by the events of that time. As I support this Motion, I want to begin by acknowledging yesterday as the President gave his speech, the Parliament comprising Members of the National Assembly and the Senate, there was one common denominator and one common title shared by all of us in that House. All of us including the President himself and us Members of the Senate and the National Assembly, shared the title of a leader. Therefore, the question that should be going through our minds right now is: Have we lived and acted this time as leaders in fulfilment of the oath that we took when we swore to be truthful and uphold the Constitution? This is where the challenge begins and the definition of what we intend to do and be in this House starts. From the languages that we speak from our different communities and ethnic backgrounds, the word and definition of a “leader” is the same. A leader is expected to be ahead of others, a principal, a chief or person who show the way forward to those who elected him. This question has got many answers. We who are the majority and are present and a few of our colleagues who are present from the minority side, the question is, what are Kenyans seeing? What do we want to show our people? I know as a Senate - with the responsibilities we have been given under Article 96 of the Constitution - as my two predecessors said, this time we have to cut a different path for the Senate. I say this in full acknowledgement that at this particular time we are facing a big challenge as a country because, on the 8th August, 2017 Kenyans came out, as it has been eloquently put by my colleagues, to express their will by going to the ballot. They elected Members who are sitting here. In the same election, they elected Members of the National Assembly, Members of the County Assemblies, Governors and the President."
}