Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 820485,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/820485/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 199,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang'",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I rise to add my voice to the Senators who have spoken before me in support of the Report of the Committee that was established by this House to look into the Solai Dam tragedy. This Committee has done us proud. It is a Select Committee that has brought back a Report to the House before the expiry of its term. For those of us who have been around for a while, we have seen select Committees established but the reports rarely end up in this House. The Chairperson of this Committee and I served in a select Committee some time back. We were looking at reforms to prisons and borstal institutions and making sure that we align them to the Constitution. We did very impressive recommendations until we tripped on a live wire. The live wire was the fact that Kenyans of high positions have stolen land belonging to prisons across the country. Suddenly, that report never saw the light of day. I congratulate the group that went to the public and then sat down to come up with the 25 recommendations that are before us. I also pay special tribute to our boys and girls at the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF). This is because this Report tells us that they responded quickly and they could have been the only meaningful response to this tragedy. Counties need to have capacity to address disasters. We did not see the county respond. It was KDF that responded. Neither did we see the national Government, unless KDF is now to be considered a national Government entity. Madam Temporary Speaker, it has come a time when we need to start thinking about the mandate of our boys in uniform because we are in an era where wars are no longer fought using bayonets, machetes and rifles but online in social media. We have cyber wars and so we need to make our boys meaningfully engaged in other aspects of national building and construction. Going forward in terms of construction of dams in this Republic, we could make that something that KDF, the National Youth Service (NYS) or any other disciplined Government unit can render. So that we train them properly, let them understand the specifications and be the ones to deliver that service. I have always reflected on the 10 plagues contained in the Bible that the Almighty visited upon Egyptians at the point when Israelites wanted to be freed. Of all the 10 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."
}