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{
    "id": 820487,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/820487/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 201,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "plagues, it is at the tenth plague that the first born died. However, there was an 11th event which has never been considered the eleventh plague. It is at the eleventh plague that the strongest men and the soldiers of Egypt died in water. I have always wondered why God reserved death in water to be the final event for the people of Israel to be free. It is because death in water is one of the most painful things that you can ever come across. Death is death but to die in water the way these 48 people died, it was the ultimate punishment for innocent Kenyans. Previously, we were told it was 48 people but that was statistics and this Committee has helped us to see the names. We have read names such as Ms. Metrin Wanjala, Mr. Charles Muchiri Njunge and Ms. Jane Muthoni Munene. I have seen a Ms. Ruth Wairimu and by the time you give the name “Ruth” to a child, you are reflecting on the Biblical Ruth, a woman of faith. This is a woman who probably grew up in faith and had faith in the future. There are children here and the saddest thing is to prepare dinner– whether on a jiko, stove or fire wood – eat, sing and say a prayer with your family and tuck your children in bed. The next day, you are all dead. That is what happened to these people. Madam Temporary Speaker, when we talk about the bourgeoisie– the rich and powerful of this world – the Perrys of this world and the other accomplices to the act, sometimes they think that we are wasting time in this Senate talking about 48 small people. These are the 48 people who make Kenya what it is and this is not any section of Kenya but the entire Kenya. This is the hope of parents of this Republic and the hope and future of this country that was snuffed out in one night. The 25 recommendations that the Committee has brought, one thing that I am happy about is that now we are bringing in some discipline by identifying who should take action, what time frame within which the action should be taken and who should follow up. I congratulate the Committee for bringing this framework because you can see for every recommendation, who should take action, when and who should ensure that follow-up is done. Other speakers have also wondered loudly; for us to put this tragedy in context, should we pray that Nairobi Dam bursts its banks and kills our brothers and sisters in Kibera and surrounding areas? Maybe then, it will look like a real tragedy. Or, should Ndakaini Dam burst its banks so that it wipes property and the lives of the affluent? Maybe then, it will be a tragedy. As a House, we maintain that the lives of the 48 are as important as the lives of those who died in Westgate, our boys who die in Somalia every day and any member of this country who loses his or her life unnecessarily. I also propose that a copy of this Report and the recommendations should find its way in our counties because county governments are digging some things that they call dams but they are just shallow graves and death traps. If a crisis or tragedy was to occur in Homa Bay County where I have seen the kind of things that they are digging and calling dams and the rain was a little bit too much--- In fact, for the folks that live around some of the dams that have been built in our counties, it is God who is still keeping us alive. The standards we are talking about should not just apply to the national Government. The same standards must be enforced for every dam or water storage facility that is set up in this Republic. 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."
}