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{
    "id": 800129,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/800129/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 193,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "The former Vice President of the USA, Joe Biden, once said that fighting corruption is not only good governance in itself, it is self-defense and patriotism. This is what we need to be talking about. We need to realise that if God is so kind to us, he will only give us 70 years; we will then die and leave all these earthly possessions in this world. Madam Temporary Speaker, I am sick and tired of this corruption. It is now becoming a comedy. Every year, the President is heard saying: “Everyone who is corrupt should carry their own cross.” I have been waiting to see someone senior in Government carrying their own cross or actually being prosecuted and found guilty of having embezzled funds. We are not ready as a county to accept the truth. The moment we will accept the truth is when we will begin to have a decent conversation about corruption in this country. Madam Temporary Speaker, I have lived in the USA for about 20 years and in Kenya for the rest of my years. However, it is only in Kenya that people become overnight millionaires by working for the Government. Every politician who comes to this Parliament – the Senate and the National Assembly – actually spends most of their time seeking government tenders, working with the Government and cutting those deals that the distinguished Senator for Bungoma County was talking about. We are teaching our children that the only way you can be respected is by cutting deals. That is the reason why you can see those university students in cybercafes discussing about deals. It is because we are leading by example. Madam Temporary Speaker, today I listened carefully to the story that the former Prime Minister gave; and I stand corrected on this. He said that we are saying that we are fighting corruption, but the people we are arresting are those junior officers. It is like taking a dog for hunting, but you do not guide it; and you let it get into the bush. That way, the dog could come out with a squirrel or a rat. However, when a leopard comes, it runs away. The truth is that if we are serious about fighting this corruption, then we must guide the dog that we take hunting to ensure that even if it is a leopard, it is dealt with. If you go to the Maasai Mara National Reserve, you will see real dogs which are trained to 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"
}