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{
    "id": 953778,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/953778/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 141,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "We should learn to list the men and women who have made significant contribution in our country. We should pass that culture to our counties and other institutions. The Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) is considering having Parliaments Hall of Fame which will include people who have made significant contribution to this House either as Members of Parliament or members of staff. It will include people who have given their lives into the establishment of this very important organ. We need to think of how to celebrate such people who retire and go into oblivion. When they retire, nobody remembers that they sat late into the night to draft significant Motions that changed the course of this country. We do not have that culture as an institution. Parastatals such as the Kenya Urban Roads Authority can celebrate its engineers. They can state that ‘there lived a particular engineer who never took a bribe from a contractor and that he ensured that every road that was built under his supervision was done to the correct specifics of the bill of quantities’. We need to have a culture of celebrating people when they are still alive for it to be a motivation to others. Such Bills motivate us to try and leave a better society than the one we found. The reason we celebrate heroes, is to tell others that you can be like them. Heroes do extraordinary things; they cure social ills. Corruption is a big struggle for us, as a nation. The gentleman who blew the lid on Anglo-Leasing, one, Mr. David Munyankei, by the time he was retiring after being taken through all that circus, nobody recognized him. He died in a very small dispensary somewhere in Kajiado where he came from. He could not even afford medication for pneumonia. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we had set up this kind of culture among our people where we celebrate little acts of heroism, it does not have to be the Picassos of this world or the David Rudishas. It is important to support men of great achievements like Eliud Kipchoge and others who made their contribution and sacrifice to the political space of this country, but even little daily sacrifices. The other day, I saw an article in the newspaper about the attack in Westgate which happened three years ago, there was a police officer who kept on making trips in and out of the danger zones to save children. He was pictured with an AK47 on one hand and a baby on other. It is a pity that he is still serving in the same rank that he served six years ago. What a shame! We do not celebrate little acts of heroism. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a good challenge. We, as a country, might not celebrate that gentleman because we are who we are. However, after the passage of this Bill, his own county can recognise him. Here is our son that we sent to Nairobi and he is known for heroism acts and has not been captured on camera trying to squeeze out bribes out of wananchi . That man is a hero. That is the culture that this particular Bill wants to induce among our people and introduce us to know that even little acts of heroism do count for something. This Bill is important and we need to pass it as soon as we can. I have seen the constitution of the selection committee, but I would have thought that maybe it would have been better to have an addition of representatives. It will have the names of the CEC member, a nominee by the governor, and clerk of the county assembly. I thought that, perhaps, the majority or the minority leader, if not both from the county assembly, will 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."
}