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{
"id": 87461,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/87461/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Raila",
"speaker_title": "The Prime Minister",
"speaker": {
"id": 195,
"legal_name": "Raila Amolo Odinga",
"slug": "raila-odinga"
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"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me first begin by congratulating hon. Members of Parliament for coming back from their recess successfully and working very hard during the recess period. I decided that I should talk about the implementation of the new Constitution of Kenya; starting a new dawn, a new era. Following the very successful Referendum last month, it is important that we now move on to the next phase of implementation of the Constitution. Over the past three decades, the long journey towards the establishment of a new democratic constitutional order never seemed to end. Despite the commitment and determination of the Kenyan people to bring about political change and reform for many years, the insurgence of the old order and the absence of political will frustrated all efforts by Kenyans to create a democratic society based on human rights, equality, freedom, social justice and the rule of law. Then, the historic and constitutional moment came on 4th August, 2010 when the Kenyan people voted to adopt and enact a Constitution having fully participated in the making of the Constitution. The promulgation of the Constitution by His Excellency the President Mwai Kibaki amidst pomp and pageantry on 27th of last month was Kenyans finest hour in the words of the famous British politician, Sir Winston Churchill. However, remember this Mr. Speaker; constitutions are never mere parchment of words with ringing lamentations of our fears and reproclamation with the promises of our hopes. A Constitution is a living document which is often achieved through the blood and sweat of the broader masses of the people. A constitution is a living document that must be read to give values and aspirations of the people. Through the sweat and blood of our great Kenyan people, our Constitution was born on 27th of last month, the date of the promulgation. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the task ahead is to implement the new Constitution of Kenya by making it a living document and not a hollow script. I repeat, our first task is to implement the Constitution and not to confine ourselves, as Parliament, to the duties and obligations of enacting and enabling or implementing the legislation. That is why the responsibility of Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee and the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution include oversight over the implementation of the Constitution and ensuring that the letter and spirit of the Constitution is respected. I am sincerely worried about the level and content of debate taking place in the country. In my respective view, we did not contribute an iota of sense or set a way forward in the debate by declaring your candidature for the elective position of Governor or Senator in the counties or for the honourous position of the President of Kenya in 2010. I repeat, 2010. To the contrary, we are contaminating debate and delaying the implementation of the Constitution. Implementation means for the national values and principles of governance which include integrity and transparency which must be enforced now. The essential pillars of the new Constitution, where all the structures of governance rest, including the representation of the people, are found in Chapters IV and VI of the Constitution. The Executive, Judiciary and the Devolution are found in Chapters IV and VI of the Constitution. That is the Bill of Rights, Leadership and Integrity. For this to happen, we need a new Kenyan person who sees things as they should be and not as they are or as they were. Mr. Speaker, Sir, without this political metamorphosis, we will have a fixation both in time and space, that will force us to believe that Kenya cannot exist without the Provincial Administration, Provincial Commissioners, District Commissioners, District Officers, chiefs, sub-chiefs and headmen. Indeed, with this kind of mindset, there are people who believe, up to now, that governors cannot co-exist with the President as they were the ultimate and supreme authority in the colonial days. When the Constitution states that the system of Provincial Administration will be restructured, even a tortured interpretation will not necessarily mean that the system will be retained lock, stock and barrel. With the system of county governments, there will be no place for Provincial Commissioners because the province as a unit of Government or as an administrative entity is not contemplated under the new Constitution. That is not to say that the Provincial Commissioners will lose their jobs or that no new administrative structures will be established. In good time, this House will enact a law on devolved governments. Such a law will define the relationship between the Central Government and the county governments. We will establish the administrative structures within each county government. This new administrative framework will succeed the system formerly known as the Provincial Administration. Consequently, the present actions to redeploy officers within the Provincial Administration are interim, pending the enactment of the law on devolved governments. We need a new Kenyan person who believes in a corruption-free society. We cannot bring honour to the nation and dignity to public office and we cannot promote public confidence in the integrity of public office if you are influenced and driven by nepotism, negative ethnicity and patriotism. We cannot bring objectivity and impartiality in decision-making in the Government if one character is bedeviled by egoism and misplaced illusions of grandeur. Implementing the Chapter on Leadership and Integrity and the responsibilities of leadership require that we rid the Public Service of corruption now and not tomorrow. Impunity must be punished. The beginning of the erosion of our moral foundations and values is not to postpone the punishment of crimes, including corruption and economic crimes or when we give room in the management of public affairs to those who do not pass the constitutional test in leadership and integrity. Mr. Speaker, Sir, this is the time for us to talk about how to build our institutions and provide the infrastructure and framework for implementing the Constitution. We need to debate on the electoral reform before we proclaim from the hill-tops who will be a Governor, a Senator or a President. Kenyans are not the rest of the earth to be held hostage or led by the might of the past, or the arrogance of political power for we have not chosen kleptocracy as our preferred system of Government. We believe in the equality of all Godâs children, men and women and as the Bible says:- âMale and female, He created themâ. Mr. Speaker, Sir, that is Genesis Chapter 1, Verse 27 of King James Version. Unless we can enforce the Bill of Rights today and not tomorrow, the new Constitution will be like an ancient verse remembered for its rhyme and rhythm, but not for the contents. But the command of the Constitution, we are a society of free people who have retained sovereign power to be exercisable only in accordance with the Constitution. Let no State organ or officer, however mighty or low, retreat to Kenyaâs dark days when politics was discussed in whispers behind closed doors and with everybody watching his or her back. The days of detention without trial must never come back in whatever shade or form. Above all, let our people freely cross the land without hindrance, speak without fear, assemble and associate without suppression knowing that all great nations, we are now born in liberty and freedom and are united under our new Constitution to live in peace and prosperity. Under the new Constitution, the people have chosen Parliament as the institution to enact legislation required by the Constitution. Parliament is the primary driver in this process. The Attorney-General, in consultation with the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution, has a role in the preparation---"
}