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{
    "id": 904429,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/904429/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 168,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, on this topic, I can talk for a day. Unfortunately, there is a limitation on how much I am allowed to contribute. So, I will make the best use of the time allocated. Allow me to commend the effort by Sen. Pareno to try to codify and legislate on this matter. This is one of the things that we least speak about in this country – cohesion and peace building – yet it is possibly the most important ingredient in building our nation. For so long, we have concentrated on the hardware in Kenya – railways, buildings and physical development – yet many times we forget the software – the values, love for one another, national ethos and our cohesion. Just the other year, we saw the railway line that was built hundreds of years ago only took three hours to uproot, and buildings that have been built over years take only one day to burn down. This is where our focus must be as a country. I am glad this is where the focus of His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta is together with the former Rt. (Hon.) Prime Minister in terms of building bridges. In the last Parliament, I was the Chairperson of the Committee on National Cohesion and Equal Opportunities of Parliament. It was one of the only two Joint Committees. I had 15 Senators. In fact, Senators alone constituted a quorum and then there were 15 Members of the National Assembly. When we started our work – I am glad that the successes of that Committee include Sen. Pareno among others – we had a huge task ahead of us because for the first time, we were defining such a Committee in Parliament. Earlier on, it was not joint because, of course, there were not two Houses, and it focused mainly on marginalised groups like youth, women and so on. However, we felt that the issue of national cohesion was extremely important. We dealt with matters of cattle rustling and even proposed pieces of legislation like amendments to the Penal Code for the first time in years. We focused on public appointments and the share of opportunities in public offices and county governments. The County Governments Act says that not more than 70 per cent of those employed within a county should come from the same community. We traveled a lot and I do not think any other Committee – possibly the Committee on Budget and Appropriations in the National Assembly because it divides itself up – has been able to cover as many counties in one term. We went to 34 counties and had meetings and barazas with wazees and the youth. We signed up to six peace agreements between communities that had been previously antagonistic and had been fighting; from the Samburus and Turkanas in 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."
}