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    "id": 899956,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/899956/?format=api",
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    "content": "I am hearing Members say that we need to define what hate speech is. The law is very clear. I think the challenge that we face most times as Kenyans is that we presume what I think is hate speech is what the law defines as hate speech. What the law defines as hate speech is not for instance calling somebody mshenzi. That is not hate speech. Hate speech that we brought under this Bill was informed by the fact that there were people who were saying things that would bring divisions against ethnic communities. So, it has a tilt on issues of creating division on ethnic communities. If I decided to call my brother names, that is not hate speech. If you want to bring other crimes around such issues, then perhaps we may legislate on that. I would also like to say, that what is provided under this law is akin to what we have with the handshake. It is just that we have not brought the handshake Bill. Therefore, I do not see why some people are very jittery about the issue of the handshake. Unfortunately, we have a culture that after every five years, we hate each other, we fight and then we make up. It is the psyche of Kenyans. So, the handshake now is attempting to end that cycle so that we hopefully can have a permanent solution so that we do not fight and kill each other. I would like to urge the ones who are jittery that the time for electioneering will come and you will convince Kenyans based on your work, and beyond convincing Kenyans, you will also convince the system because we know that Kenya, other than elections, there is the system. So, you will have to convince those two major factors but before then I think it is incumbent up on each of us, as leaders, to try and unite the country because we cannot be electioneering all the time. Kenyans want to recover the businesses that they lost, the economy that went down. We need to recover so that we can move ahead. I want to also comment on something that I heard Hon. Mbadi speak to. I want to agree with him that we do not need to criminalise Members of Parliament. I know that we are the ones who are normally focused on a lot of issues by the public because of the work that we do. This is because it touches directly on members of the public. We do not, as Parliament, need to further that and criminalise ourselves. Usually, you will find that even when you talk about salaries, we are the ones who are willing to legislate against ourselves. Of course the media will report otherwise but we will legislate in salary reduction. I am doing my third term and I can tell you for a fact that what I earned in my first term is not the same as now. I am earning less. But the public is being told that we add our salaries The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}