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{
    "id": 895326,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/895326/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 169,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Ochillo-Ayacko",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 347,
        "legal_name": "Ochilo George Mbogo Ayacko",
        "slug": "ochilo-ayacko"
    },
    "content": "“handshake” and unity so that we have a united country where every Kenyan feels a sense of belonging, enjoys being Kenyan, able to work hard enough and benefit from the sweat or product of hard work. That aspect of the Address is very good. I believe that those who have misunderstood the issue of the “handshake” heard it from the President. They should change their minds and support that spirit. Elections come and go but nations must stay. Elections are actually used to renew nationhood. If you do not hold elections or if you keep on cheating in every election, you may end up with what is happening in Sudan. They do not have a government at the moment because the Government has fled. I think that there are people who are trying to constitute something in the name of a government at the moment. The same thing happened in Algeria and Zimbabwe. We do not want that to happen in Kenya. We do not want elections to be divisive because division pulls us under the very fabric that holds us together. People must be able to shake the hands of their competitors and say; „Kenya must continue‟. They should look forward to participating in another election. That aspect of the President Address was very good. We cannot have peaceful campaigns; expend a lot of money as a nation and end up frowning at each another or being hostile to one another. We should not have violence because somebody else became the president and the other one failed to be the president. This is a new chapter in the life of this nation that we should all embrace. I am happy that the Building Bridges Initiative is trying to find a legal framework to underpin this new philosophy. Elections should contribute to stability of our nation and not instability as has been the case in the past. I fully support the President in his quest to have a united country and a united people for the common benefit of all of us. The President also talked about corruption. That is something that we should take seriously. Corruption has denied this nation resources that could be used to build the nation and ensure that each and every one of us; able or disabled, male or female, has something on the table. Corruption is the reason as to why there is fierce competition during elections. Those who get into office feel that it is their turn to eat or it is the turn of their cronies to eat or it is the turn of their community to eat. When that becomes the guiding principle, election becomes a matter of life and death. People should not die because of elections though we will all die one day. It is important for us, as a nation, to unite and face the cancer of corruption squarely. We should deal with it as a people who love this country. We have an elaborate budget which runs into trillions of shillings but what do we achieve with those budgets or plans? All we do get from them are a few faceless people who put the money in their pockets and forget about the poor citizens of this country. As we talk today, money that was intended for Arror, Thwake and other dams has been pocketed by people. Those plans are beautiful but there is nothing on the ground. The stadia that were to be delivered have not been constructed yet the political class keeps on growing rich every night and day as masses get poorer and continue starving. This is not the logical way of building a nation. It is the worst way of pulling a nation down. If we continue taking public resources and using them for our personal gain instead of feeding the poor, educating the youth and creating employment for those who 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."
}