Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 757558,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/757558/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 112,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kilonzo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 3052,
        "legal_name": "Francis Mwangangi Kilonzo",
        "slug": "francis-mwangangi-kilonzo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Speaker. Allow me to talk as somebody who came here as an independent candidate and as a referee. I am neither with Jubilee nor necessarily with NASA, though I campaigned for them. I have not been included in the list of members in NASA although I do support NASA most of the time. I want to put it this way: When you are out there and you are not in government, you talk very differently. When you join government, the language also changes. Therefore, my plea is to remind Members that we are Members of Parliament and not youth wingers of the political party leaders. It is upon us as Members of Parliament, where we feel the party leaders are not making the right decision for the interest of this country, to speak up. I have had the opportunity to watch both sides of the divide and I recall seeing the Jubilee team in State House being read the riot act. By the time they left State House, they were very gloomy. The last time I was in that government, it was an interaction between the President and Members of Parliament. Little did I know that this riot act is being read on both sides. On the NASA side, they were given a direction not to even step into the House. I am happy that Hon. Mbadi and his team have come. Members of Parliament are politicians. The fact that you have been a party leader or the President does not mean these are your cronies who are supposed to follow you blindly. The challenge we have is that this country is divided. The reality is that it is so divided that it is so tribal. Even if one side won, they would be ruling almost like 50 per cent of the country. Therefore, we need to look at ourselves as politicians and bridge that gap. If I am in Jubilee, how can I convince the other side to believe in my course? If I am in NASA, what can I do to convince the other side? I hear people saying elections cannot be held by the UN; that it is hypocritical and unconstitutional. Where were they when we went to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and this House rejected the local courts? If you are convinced you can win the election, it matters not who is in charge of elections. My plea is we have to think outside the box. We Members of Parliament, whether you are in NASA or Jubilee, we must convince the leaders. If you look at those wazees, they have had their time. What if we destroy the country? What if we went to a civil war? Therefore, it is upon us Members of Parliament to come to the middle ground and bring both sides to the table. What key issues are we talking about? We do not want a situation where we have elections and then we have no country. I want to give you an example. I went to a funeral in my constituency and, as I said, I do market my cause; I was marketing NASA. After I left the funeral, the deputy governor went there. He spoke very well but made one blunder; he mentioned Uhuru—just mentioning. That was the end of the funeral. Is that the country we are talking of where you have a Head of State not recognised in certain parts of the country? If you are a friend of the President, you need to tell him the truth. Certain parts of this country are so hostile that they do not recognise him as the Head of State. If I had the opportunity to talk to him, I would tell him: Change your tack. As Members of Parliament we have lowered our standards too low. Tumekuwa watu wa"
}