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"id": 876564,
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
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"legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
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"content": "Actually, Mr. Speaker, Sir, that is the direction that I wanted to take. Having considered that my colleague and Senate Majority Leader has requested for a Statement which is similar to the one that I wanted this House to be furnished with, I decided to shelve mine. However, what I want to do, in accordance to the direction that you have just given to the Senator for Homa Bay, is just to make a brief comment with regards to what the Senate Majority Leader is raising and bringing before this House. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is good that we are finally beginning to have light on what was an extremely dark and saddening issue. This country is shuttling down a very dangerous path which, if we are not careful, then we are going to affect the psyche of even the people that we lead. It is unfortunate that as is the case before all of us – and maybe I can speak for myself – I do not support any act of corruption Secondly, Mr. Speaker, Sir, I support one hundred per cent the war that is being waged, led by the President, on corrupt activities that have been done in this Republic. However, that is not to say that, as a legislator, I am supposed to abrogate my responsibility and just join the cheering group or the rest of Kenyans who are saying that whatever it takes, recover what has been looted. That ought to be the spirit. However, we must ask of our public officers to do their work with a lot of zeal and goodwill. They must also work in a way that satisfies every common sense of every Kenyan; that whatever they are doing is actually meant to fight corruption and not to achieve any political ends. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Statement that has been read alongside the confirmations that were given by the Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) in the newspapers today bring up very important issues before us. How could many of our leading investigative agencies continue to sit pretty as the nation was fed with rumours and propaganda about how the government has lost Ksh21 billion? Further, even to support and aid such malicious issues, we saw the DCI leaking information and saying that, “This is what we have confirmed.” What we need to learn, as a country, is the fact that our media needs to be factual and report what is right. The surest way of losing out on this war against corruption is for us to introduce politics into it; that so long as a certain issue is seen to be pushing a certain political narrative, then it is good for us. If we want to win this particular war, then let us ensure that whatever accusations are being laid on the table are factual. In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, Sir, I want to urge the DPP and the DCI; please be as savvy in court as you are with the media. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}