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{
"id": 904459,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/904459/?format=api",
"text_counter": 198,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Orengo",
"speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
"speaker": {
"id": 129,
"legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
"slug": "james-orengo"
},
"content": "of human rights from Independence to 2008. The mandate included dealing with economic crimes, illegal acquisition of public land, marginalization of certain communities and the issue of ethnic violence. If you look at the reports which have never been published – the TJRC, the Waki Commission and the Akiwumi Commission reports– they contributed largely to the creation of the NCIC, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and the National Land Commission (NLC). This was fed into the Constitution that came later in 2010. Madam Temporary Speaker, having said all that, there was an underlying cause why there was necessity to have a commission of this nature. The judgement of many Kenyans, including myself, is that this Commission has generally failed to meet its mandate. There was a time when the Commission itself carried out an audit that exposed skewed dominance in the Public Service of certain large communities to the detriment of minorities. This was the finding of the Commission itself, but there is nothing much about what it did about it. The other thing that the Commission has tried, over the years since its formation, is to carry out certain prosecutions relating to hate speech. You will agree with me that these prosecutions have, most of the times, been politically motivated. For that reason, even the convictions arising out of those prosecutions are almost zero. Some of the cases that have been instituted with regard to hate speech have not seen the light of day in terms of finality, and neither end up in acquittals nor convictions. They remain in the court process, experiencing and confronting certain difficulties in terms of the manner in which these cases were instituted and prosecuted. Madam Temporary Speaker, I am beginning by looking at the past and the failures of the past. Whenever we have a problem, as Kenyans, we tend to think that the answer is forming a commission. A commission is formed, people are appointed and they earn salaries. Most of the time, they ask for resources and if there is failure to provide the resources, they blame their inaction on the lack of sufficient resources. Attempts are made to give them resources, but sometimes they still fail to carry out their mandate. The South African example is good. Because of persistence, they came up with reports about the deep state capture and, ultimately, the South Africa State had to deal with those problems because commissions or independent offices persistently pursued their mandates without fear or favour. I am particularly happy about how they deal with discrimination against women. I heard about it the previous night, but I need to confirm whether the Government and the African National Congress (ANC) won the elections. They announced that whatever Government that will be formed in South Africa, because of the issues that have arisen, the Cabinet and administrative structures or organs must have at least 60 per cent of the female gender. In Kenya, when we talk about the one-third rule, we think we are doing well. However, that is tokenism. In South Africa, they take a more assertive role by stating that women deserve to be in positions arising out of the work that some of the commissions have done regarding discrimination of the women and the youth. Madam Temporary Speaker, unlike in the current statute, this Bill talks about discrimination and how to deal with it. That is what I consider exceptions to the 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."
}