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{
"id": 1527462,
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"speaker": null,
"content": "(Resumption of debate on the Bill)"
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"id": 1527463,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wambua",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1527464,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527464/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wambua",
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"content": "I stand in support the Heritage and Museums Bill (Senate Bills No.8 of 2023) ably moved by the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare, Sen. Murgor. Initially, I had my own reservations about the Bill, but I have consulted the Secretariat and have been properly guided, that in fact what a part of this Bill seeks to do is to repeal the existing National Museums and Heritage Act of 2006. I was wondering whether this Bill seeks to establish another national museum, yet and all my life I have always known that we have had one national museum. In fact, it will be remembered that my predecessor, the former Senator of Kitui County, Hon. David Musila, has been serving as the Chairman of the National Museum of Kenya. When I saw this, I wondered what position he was serving in. However, I am properly guided. The Bill also seeks to repeal the National Museums and Heritage Act established in 2006, and for a good reason. The move to repeal the Act could not have come at a better time. If you ask me, it is long overdue. When this Act was passed in 2006, we were operating under a different constitutional dispensation. After the promulgation of the new Constitution in 2010, the allocation of museums and historical monuments of national importance were given to the national Government in Part One of the Fourth Schedule. It is a national government function. However, we also know that there is a lot of work to be done in counties. There was a need to create that synergy between the management of museums at the national level and the operationalization of works at county levels. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am impressed by the provisions of Part 2 of the Bill. I think for the first time, and in a very nice way it makes every citizen a trustee of our national heritage. If and when this Bill becomes law, it will be the responsibility of every citizen of this country to act responsibly in the preservation and protection of our heritage. That has been captured well in the Bill and I support it. We should not wait for other people sitting in offices to protect our heritage but it is now incumbent upon every Kenyan to act responsibly and ensure that we protect our heritage for the benefit of this current and future generation. Part 3 of the Bill assigns roles and responsibilities to the two levels of government. I am happy with the roles assigned to county governments. Where we all come from our counties, we have monuments and indigenous cultures that are at a threat of becoming extinct. Why? As things stand now, it is the responsibility of the national Government to make sure that these indigenous cultures, heritages, and monuments in our respective counties are preserved and taken care of. Now with the passage of this Bill, the responsibility is taken where it belongs. That means that our county governments will also now have to even pass budgets to support their own Indigenous cultures, their monuments, and their artefacts. This is a move in the right direction to ensure that even when it comes to the promotion of our diversity, counties that share almost similar or even complementing heritages, then they can come up with consortiums to even establish circuits for tourism crisscrossing counties. While speaking about the establishment of those circuits for purposes of tourism attractions, yours truly is in the process of bringing to the Floor of this House a Bill that The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1527465,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527465/?format=api",
"text_counter": 221,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wambua",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "seeks to establish and entrench regional authorities or regional caucuses to ensure that these economic blocks in the counties then operate within a structure that is recognised by law. This will go a long way in ensuring that counties have no problems with budgeting for cross-county operations. The Bill seeks to ensure that the National Museums of Kenya Act is now repealed when we pass this Bill and that they should be able to identify, acquire and record ancient and historical monuments and sites in conjunction with county governments. So, I would expect that with the passage of this Bill, there will be a lot of consultation between the National Museums of Kenya, established and operating with its headquarters in Nairobi, and the satellite offices set up in counties to ensure that there is synergy; that the establishment and identification of monuments and heritages and historical sites is done smoothly. There are things that people sitting in Nairobi may not think that they have a lot of value in terms of heritage. However, for the people living in those respective counties, those heritages carry a lot of weight in passing their cultures from one generation to the next generation. I hope that once it is passed by both Houses of Parliament, then it will help us ensure that our heritage is protected and counties also continue to play the right role in ensuring that we don't lose our cultures and our heritage. I support."
},
{
"id": 1527466,
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"speaker_name": "The Speaker (",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Hon. Kingi): Sen. Veronica Maina"
},
{
"id": 1527467,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527467/?format=api",
"text_counter": 223,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir for the opportunity to contribute to this very important Bill that has been brought to the Floor of this House. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare, Sen. Murgor, for bringing a genius legislation that can be a great avenue, even of income for the counties. Before I tackle any other section, I will jump to Clause 93(1) of this Bill. It says- “The National Museums of Kenya may request a court or other competent authority of another country to order the return of a cultural object illegally exported from the territory of the Republic of Kenya.” We know very well that before our community and our nation were alert as to the value of some of these artefacts and some of these monuments, architectural works, and sculptures; those who are more aware and who came from other jurisdictions of our nation cut away very important artefacts that are now showcased in other very modern museums and whose value has become very high. I am very pleased as a Senator to see that we can finally legislate a piece of law that can help us to extradite or return all those artefacts back to this country. That means it is a very progressive legislation. I have seen for the first time that counties have been recognised as a platform where museums can now be created at the county level and where heritage, artefacts, and culture can be preserved right at the county level. That means it has gone down to the people and every county now must take ownership of this legislation. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1527468,
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"text_counter": 224,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Why? For a long time, I have seen Kenyans trying to express themselves, their culture, their tribe, their ethnic background and sometimes it has not come out positively because it has been used to divide people. We now have legislation where culture can be expressed positively. Cultural differences can be expressed through the establishment of museums at the county level. For example, if a young Kenyan from the diaspora visits Murang’a County, they can tell how the Kikuyu community lived before 1900, using the concept of a museum that has preserved the culture and the livelihoods of a people. I hope when this legislation is finally enacted that counties will take advantage of it. I want to remember when the Senate went to Senate Mashinani in Turkana County. I watched the kind of dances that were presented, read the history of those traditional dances, and looked at the attire that was being used by the Turkana people and for a moment, my heart was captivated, especially by the outfits. Those outfits, if they are not preserved within the context of such legislation, in another 20 to 30 years, will be replaced by modern clothing and we will no longer remember how Turkana culture looked like or how the dances were being done. So, this is legislation which the Council of Governors (CoG) should take and ensure that it is implemented to the letter within the county context. I am also seeing Sen. Ledama has got back to his seat in the House. I am thinking about the very rich Maasai heritage and culture that has defined and given a brand to the nation of Kenya. We want to see Narok and Kajiado Counties and all the counties around Maasai land ensuring that every beadwork that has been done by the Maasai, handmade beadworks, the shield, the spears and the rung u that the Maasais use settled in certain very good museums in Narok County and Kajiado County. I see Sen. Ledama carrying that rungu, but for the harsh eye that comes from the Serjeant-at-Arms (SAA) at the Senate, he has not been allowed to bring it to the Chamber. These should be preserved so that when we are promoting our tourism, we can tell the World that they can come to Kenya and learn exactly how the Maasais have lived for the last 100 years on a platform of very good museums. I am thinking of some of the museums I have visited across the world as I have had an opportunity to travel, like Madame Tussauds Museum in London. If you visit the Madame Tussauds Museum, you will be amazed to see the kind of artefacts they have put in that museum and the kind of income that is being earned through the use of that museum. You will find the likes of the Former President of United States of America, Barack Obama, together with the former First Lady, Michelle Obama, very well sculptured within the Madame Tussauds. You can read the history of the whole of United Kingdom (UK) and Britain following that museum. Every year they will show you who was the king in 1895 and who moved on to 1900. If we were to take this concept of museum with the dedication, we would even have visitors streaming in. We must think of the artefacts that have been preserved in other jurisdictions like in Egypt where they have the pyramids. Millions of tourists flock Egypt and Cairo to see the pyramids. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we want to see Fort Jesus getting the kind of branding, marketing and know-how that people should have about the Fort Jesus and what it stood The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1527469,
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"text_counter": 225,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "for in Kenya. We want to see the Lamu doors which I see have been preserved and recognised here. Any wooden frames and doors that date beyond 1946 should also be identified as artefacts that need preservation. That artefact could even be like what you are seeing here in Senate. The art that has been used around the Senate building itself is not of today, it is of those years. We want to see these artefacts preserved so that when our children are born in another 50 or 60 years, this legislation will mean something to them and will not only be there to be viewed and give the history, it will also earn income for our nation. We had a heavy tussle with the Council of Governors (CoG) and governors on the issue of Own Source Revenue. This is one of the innovative ways that counties can earn revenue and attract tourism. When I went to Muranga County the other day, we had a very big kiondo event. The baskets are weaved by the older generation, the age of our mothers, who are bringing up a certain art which we do not have ourselves. We want to see the preservation of such. Those baskets being preserved within a museum so that even as that skill is evolving and changing, the museum can preserve them and show us what pots were being used in Kenya in 1900. Mr. Speaker, Sir, sometimes legislation can be done here and because it is being presented in very fine English, people may think it is something that is beyond our understanding. It is just a preservation of those items that were used in the kitchens from 1900 up to 2000. What is the development and how have they evolved? I am thinking of a small museum in Karen right now called Karen Blixen. Karen Blixen was one of those first British occupants in Kenya and who lived in Karen area. The whole of Karen is named after Karen Blixen. Therefore, if you tour the house where Karen Blixen lived, you will be shown the bed, the kitchen where Karen cooked and where she had dinner. It is just those artefacts put together. A curtain is raised and you are able to view how life was, how the outfits were and when they went for dinner, what did they wear. That is all that is preserved in that museum. Additionally, Karen Blixen will be able to raise some funds even as they retain that museum. I also remember one small museum I visited in UK. It is a museum of a Christian who lived in UK and who wrote this song called Amazing Grace. They have created a whole museum around that song. Out of that museum concept, they have also come up with very interesting paraphernalia and gifts that can be sold and that shows how the song Amazing Grace was composed, how it got into our Christian world and worship. I want to highly commend the Committee for coming up with such a legislation. I believe that our national heritage will be safer when we get hold of these artefacts. I have also noted, one of the items that has been recognised as requiring preservation, are those vessels which may have sunk or vessels that predate 1940s. If they are found anywhere by our shores or they are recovered anywhere, then they are supposed to be preserved for museum purposes, learning and also for ensuring that we can see how the technology of yester years has been developed up to now. If we implement the Heritage and Museums Bill well and it turns into law, then it will be a framework that will support research in the fields of ancient, historical, scientific, cultural, natural, technological, and human interests. lt will help Kenya to The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
},
{
"id": 1527470,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527470/?format=api",
"text_counter": 226,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Veronica Maina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "attract many more historians as they visit the country, Kenya, which is the cradle of mankind. With the implementation of this legislation, we should be able to attract scientists, researchers, historians, academies, universities or institutes which are doing research or are interested in research. I highly commend the enactment of the Heritage and Museums Bill. I pray and ask all the Senators to support this Bill until it turns into law that can transform our counties and also help us preserve the culture and our rich heritage as Kenyans and as Africans. I thank you."
},
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"id": 1527471,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527471/?format=api",
"text_counter": 227,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Kingi",
"speaker_title": "The Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Proceed, Sen. Olekina."
}
]
}