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"id": 1527472,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527472/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I rise to support this timely Bill, the Heritage and Museums Bill (Senate Bills No.8 of 2023). As I support this Bill, I want to note one thing. It is about time that we all appreciate our diversity, respect each culture and not subject any culture to second grading. One of the most offensive things in this Bill is that, the Committee decided that counties will only grade the artefacts that they find in that county as grade two, yet the umbrella body with the Director General will be given the opportunity to grade one, two, three, and four. I would like to persuade the Committee on Labour and Social Protection, led by my good friend Sen. Murgor, to do away with the grading aspect of it completely. If you read Clause 4 of that Bill, it states that- “The National Museum of Kenya shall, in consultation with the Cabinet Secretary and the County Executive Committee member in each county prescribe a system of grading of places and objects which form part of the national heritage and shall distinguish between - (a) Grade I category consisting of heritage resources with qualities so exceptional that they are of special national significance; (b) Grade II consisting of heritage resources considered to have special qualities which make them significant within the context of a county or a region; and (c) Such other grade assessment criteria as the National Museum of Kenya shall consider appropriate.” I want to persuade the distinguished Senator to do away with that aspect. Since, who gives you the audacity to come and say that what I consider to be valuable in the Maasai community is now going to be subjected into a second class by a Cabinet Secretary and an executive committee member of a county government who does not even understand that heritage?"
},
{
"id": 1527473,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527473/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "The other part which I thought was wrong, is on Clause 8(c) where it provides that the function of county government shall be to see, identify and manage Grade II heritage resources in accordance with this Act. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the reason I find that provision wrongly placed is that when the colonial masters came into this country, they took everything that was important and belonged to us. If you go to the museums in London today, you will find Maasai artefacts, which have serious cultural significance to us. However, they were all taken to London, where everyone goes in with tickets and they get money. 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": 1527474,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527474/?format=api",
"text_counter": 230,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "When we have now devolved resources and decided to set up museums across this country, we still subject ourselves to that colonial mentality of taking what is so important to the bullfighter from Kakamega County to Nairobi City County. Why not send people from Nairobi City County to Kakamega County to go and see what is important there? I would like to persuade you to completely do away with that system of grading. Who gives the Cabinet Secretary the knowledge of my culture? He does not understand it. Who gives the County Executive Committee Member (CECM), who is a political appointee, the ability to be able to distinguish what is good and wrong? My community, the Maasai community, traded with traders from the Czech Republic who brought in beads. The beads that we wear were traded between the Maasai and traders from the Czech Republic from the European community. Until today, 99 per cent of all the beads which are sold in this country come from the Czech Republic. When you try to get them from a different country, there are challenges because there was a channel they passed through. We adopted them, but we have others which are very significant to us. The Pokot have their heritage. The Njemps or Ilchamus community, who are our sister tribe, have what they value. The Ateker community, which I belong to, have their heritage, which we have preserved for years. They include, the Maasai, Samburu, Karamojong, Pokot and people from Ethiopia and South Sudan. The only thing that I support with this Bill is that county governments must now set aside a percentage of their budget to set up museums that will attract people into those counties. The challenge we have at the moment is that because of this cosmopolitan nature, some of us are afraid that our own counties will be strangers. It is people who will be put in museums. I went to a place in Austria called Salzburg, where they have a beautiful museum. In that museum, they have a short African man who they say was a human they brought from South Africa many years ago. I do not want the Maasai to be put in the museum and say, “That lanky fellow is from the Maasai community, who used to be predominant in this county.”"
},
{
"id": 1527475,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527475/?format=api",
"text_counter": 231,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "[The Speaker (Hon. Kingi) left the Chair]"
},
{
"id": 1527476,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527476/?format=api",
"text_counter": 232,
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"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "[The Temporary Speaker (Sen. Veronica Maina) in the Chair]"
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{
"id": 1527477,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527477/?format=api",
"text_counter": 233,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, that is why I said the other day that we need to be creative in this House. We need to ask ourselves what we are going to do to solve the conflict at the borders. You will find the Maasais, Kisiis and Luos fighting in their borders because of land issues. That is why I said we change the law on land so that we know the boundary of the Maasai. The Maasais who live in that place should be told not to sell their land for the sake of preserving their heritage and culture. They can lease the land out, but not sell it. This is because the moment you sell that land, the change of user come in place. 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": 1527478,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527478/?format=api",
"text_counter": 234,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "It is imperative that all of us become cognizant of the things we are introducing. I normally stand here and say that we have been terrorized and stigmatised for many years. Despite all that, we have a culture which we believe. I would like to persuade the distinguished Senator to amend the following Section before bringing this Bill to a vote. If you do not, I will be seeking to remove section 8 (c), which states that- “The functions of the county governments shall be to identify and manage of grade II heritage resources in accordance with this Act.” It means that if we are to go with this Bill, any grade I heritage resources will be taken to a Director General, a job we have created. He is in charge of collecting all the money. For example, if people are coming to visit grade A resources and they decide they are charging X amount in Grade A, that money should remain in Nairobi to pay for the life of other people. What we need to do is very simple. On the part you are recommending that the Director General (DG) who is the head of the administration, can receive money donations, we need to be specific on that. If the donations are received because of an artefact that came from Maasai land, then that money is to be directed to the museum in Narok. If that money is from West Pokot, it is sent to West Pokot. If it is from Kakamega, it is sent to Kakamega. This is to enable our people to benefit from our own heritage. That is very important. Madam Temporary Speaker, I would like to summarise as follows. I support this Bill because it helps us to ensure that we maintain our cultural identity. I like what you said earlier on, that I am proud of my culture. I come into this Senate Chambers adorned with my traditional artefact. I wish I could be allowed to come with my spear. Sometimes I sneak in a rungu . If you go into the archives, you will see that sometimes I am able to sneak in a rungu once in a while. I end up putting our friends in trouble, but such is life. It is because I am proud of my culture. I wish we could be in a position we could even come here with a spear. I am sure the bullfighter will also come with another artefact that he thinks is important. I hope that we can amend the Speaker's Rules, so that on a day we are discussing a very important Bill like this, all of us should be allowed to come in dressed the way we want. If you want to go the way you want to breathe well, so be it. Such is very important because it helps us. The biggest problems I am facing at the moment is that the younger generation, and I am happy that I can see a few who in these Chambers, will be so disadvantageous in learning about our cultural heritage. Our grandparents would sit down and talk to us about our historical identity or where we come from. That is why I can stand here and say that I originally came from Tanzania. There was no border between Kenya and Tanzania. It was just Maasai land. My heritage is mostly from Tanzania coming into this Kenya. I heard today the bullfighter talking about his heritage from Zambia. Maybe he came from there. That just shows that we have our brothers, cousins and sisters in other territories. What unites us is to find what they find important and keep it. Today, a Maasai from Tanzania and Narok speak the same language and value the same things. 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": 1527479,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527479/?format=api",
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"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "It is upon us to say what is of importance to us and what we want to preserve. It should not be some cabinet secretary or CECM sitting somewhere given power by this Act to set up a committee to determine if something is of economic value or good heritage. No, it is upon us to do that. It is also important for us to continue educating our children. I like what this Bill seems to achieve apart from those areas that I pointed out. My grandfather taught me about my culture. That is why I am very proud of my culture. Today, because of our busy schedules, we do not find time to educate our children and tell them about the Luanda Magere or Mumbi or Olonana. We should educate our children. I was hoping that we will go in that direction. This should be a subject taught in early primary school, so that when children grow up, they can understand. Madam Temporary Speaker, TikTok has messed us up. Let us call a spade a spade. TikTok and the internet have messed us up. You find children insulting their elders. That is uncouth because it was unheard of. You will find a young boy telling “the bullfighter”; F--- Do whatever you want. It is because they do not understand the values that we have. These are the same values we were talking about the other day. The late Leonard Mambo Mbotela would use humour to remind us of the importance of our ethics and values. He used satire to make us remember. In this Bill which I fully support, it is important for local museums to have fully equipped educational sections. When we craft a legislation like this, let us also add an internship aspect, where local schools should provide internships for students doing history and culture to go there and learn. They should be the tour guides. If you go to a museum in London, you will be given a tour guide with a detailed perspective of that culture, the struggles, and things that those people have gone through. Everything we are doing today is going to determine what the future generation is going to take as valuable. If we do not pass this legislation and fund our museums, the future generation will be lost. They will be looking at the current generation that is using"
},
{
"id": 1527480,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527480/?format=api",
"text_counter": 236,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "TikTok"
},
{
"id": 1527481,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1527481/?format=api",
"text_counter": 237,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "and all that stuff. Yesterday, I was talking to a young girl. She said that for the Gen Z, the maximum number of kids they can get are two. She said that they will not afford to buy houses because the interest rate is about 18 or even 20 per cent. Since they do not have good salaries, they will just exist. How do you just exist? That is why I am saying it is time we looked within our means and asked ourselves what we can do to change our future. The future generation will depend heavily on how we prepare ourselves. If we sit here and continue amassing a lot of wealth, lining our pockets, and putting our country into debt such that the future generation cannot even have an identity, they will be working to pay debts and that will be wrong. Madam Temporary Speaker, education is key. Preserving our national heritage is also key in terms of this Act. As I support it fully, I hope that the distinguished Senator will make a few changes, particularly on the roles of the Director General and the Cabinet Secretary and delete the provision on grading artefacts. I thank you."
}
]
}