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{
    "id": 927148,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/927148/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 54,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Saboti, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Caleb Luyai",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2740,
        "legal_name": "Caleb Amisi Luyai",
        "slug": "caleb-amisi-luyai"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker for giving me an opportunity to join my colleagues and the entire nation in sending my message of condolence to the family for the loss of Dr. Laboso as well as our colleague, Kibra MP. I specifically request to read a tribute to Mhe . Ken Okoth having been my very good and close friend and having shared the same school and many other things. I will make it very brief. Hon. Speaker, it is difficult to pay tribute to any human being but more difficult, to eulogise a man who was the embodiment and beacon of hope to many people in the country and beyond. My brother Ken was a selfless, versatile and diligent man with a remarkable leadership style that has moulded the aspirations of many young people and rekindled the flickering dreams in the informal settlements. Born and raised in the sprawling slum of Kibra, far from the corridors of power and opulence, the young Ken Okoth had to contend with studying at night in their tin-roofed house using nyangile, a smoky paraffin tin lamp. For this effort he had to pay a price for the rest of his life. He once asserted to a local journalist: “My spectacles are not objects of prestige, but emblems of paucity. I would not be wearing them had I grown up in an opulent background.” In the midst of very difficult atmosphere that punctuated his earlier life, he chose the harder route even when opting for the short-cut was fashionable. Driven by the belief that one day he would redeem his family from the shackles of poverty that had made his life miserable at the tender age, he would later meet his hero, the Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga who would rekindle the fire that was burning in him. A fire for something greater, bigger, a vision to be human and a calling to be a brother’s keeper. God’s grace, commitment and sheer hard work would see him perform well in the national primary school examination and proceed to Starehe Boys Centre where his fire was kept burning by yet another unique figure and tower in education, Dr. Griffin. This same fire was lit and continues to burn even today in some of us. Instead of whining and blaming the society and his parents for the circumstances, Ken honoured a dream he knew would take an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort to turn it into reality. Perhaps, this laid the foundation for his quest for community service and voluntarism because it is here that his star shone again. He understood that a vision for humanity cannot be contained by lack of funds nor the place you come from. This is the man we pay tribute to today - A patriot, leader, a son of the people of Kibra and a man who remained steadfast in principle and purpose. A role model that we try to emulate every day in the service to the people. He reached beyond partisanship and beyond our own selves to our very souls. We shared the creed that leadership was more than formulation of 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."
}