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{
    "id": 782947,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/782947/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 409,
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    "content": "The other day when we were having our meeting of the Committee on Education, we told ourselves that, ‘if you pick a standard Kenyan young boy or girl and asked them to sing all the stanzas of the National Anthem in Kiswahili, they might stumble’. We were looking at the curriculum and education and asking ourselves what went wrong; what happened to our values of patriotism? A country like America, when they were at the spot where we are in Kenya, they fully incorporated this rite from very early ages. You will find that an American will stand and say “I am proud to be an American.” That is what we need to do as Kenyans; we need to stand and not only say it, but also feel it. We just do not need to wear the bangles to represent that we are Kenyans, but we need to feel that we are Kenyans. We feel like this, especially in the instances when we have been out of the country. I remember when I was an International Fellowship Programme (IFP) Scholar and we would have delegations of various students from various places, the first thing that was used to identify us, was our respective flags. The feeling of pride that came when our respective flags were raised was a very high level of appreciation, respect, association and love for the country. Therefore, there is significance in the flag and how it is operationalised in our lives. Therefore, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we need to move the amendments as this Bill suggests. This is so that we can move to the point where we can both revere the flag and also use it as a symbol of understanding of who we are. Sometimes when we have gone as delegations to other countries, you will find that it is standard, for example, for a Senator to have the flag of their party and, specifically, the flag of their country on the table. Some will wear it on the lapel, but you will have that flag even on the table. Those flags will be given out to everybody. This feeling is reducing because some time back in the 1960s, you would not handle the flag and wave it, for example, when you were cheering a team. However, we have seen changes where it is now possible for you to do that. You can now waive it and show your appreciation by doing that in a particular way. Therefore, this amendment is very critical. It is a small part of a bigger Bill that was discussed in the Eleventh Parliament that talked about the importance of the national flag, the emblems and the names, which were very critical. This Bill is important because we need to move away from the presumption that we are looking at our flag, but we are looking at it as something which is very distant and which we cannot bring closer to us. We need to get our young people to understand that the closer they are to the flag, the better understanding they have of it, which makes it even more important for them to be patriots. This is also linked to the way we handle the flag during national days. It is a symbol of unification that brings us together and, therefore, we need to climb down from that high tower to the lower tower, where we can handle the smaller flags with our children so as to celebrate what is really going on."
}