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{
    "id": 99822,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/99822/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 356,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Chanzu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 11,
        "legal_name": "Yusuf Kifuma Chanzu",
        "slug": "yusuf-chanzu"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance to support this very important Report which is based on education and what affects all these universities. I want to commend the Committee for the work they did. I have not had time to go through the Report, but I know that education is very important for a developing country like this one. So, whatever recommendations are made, there must be a way of following up to ensure they are implemented. I am happy that we already have the Implementation Committee in this Parliament. I hope they will follow up on the action taken. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in life there are so many factors that would lead to problems. It is not only in universities, but also in homesteads. There are many things that affect these people who are growing up with a lot of hope in their future. I think the Government must take care of this. I remember there was peace when Prof. Mbithi became the Vice-Chancellor of Nairobi. The number of strikes went down during his tenure at that university. We came to learn that he was interacting with students from time to time. However, something interesting happened because when he was appointed the Permanent Secretary, Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of Public Service, he could not manage. I think the factors are very interesting and they should be handled in a very special way. It is high time professionals in the field were left to handle issues to do with this. If you look at the way the headship of the universities is appointed, for example, the councils, sometimes you wonder if it is based on education or a reward for political expediency. There is a lot of ethnicity in this country. The moment you talk about something, somebody thinks that you are talking about his or her community. The Chairman of this Committee is here. With regard to the naming of these universities, we have the University of Nairobi. Before it, we had Makerere University which was the University for East Africa. We had Dar es salaam University. We got into the habit of naming universities using leadership names which are tribal. You will find that now we have Kenyatta University in that region; Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and Moi University on the other side. The communities there come from where these leaders come from. There is also Masinde Muliro University. You will have to look into this. I do not mind the names of our leaders being used, but why can we not have--- If somebody was leading this country, why can we not have a name from Western Province being given to a university in Coast Province? Why can we not have a name from Central Province being given to a university in Maseno? I have just been wondering about this naming. It is causing a problem. Our human nature is that way. Even me, and you have seen it even in this House. There are people here who are more comfortable going to Musalia Mudavadi because he comes from Western Province. There are also those who are comfortable going to Uhuru Kenyatta because he comes from Central Province. So, this thing is happening at all levels. I was wondering if this Committee could look into this matter. I am very happy with the way our Committees work in general. However, we are doing these things for posterity and not for ourselves."
}