STATEMENT OF RT. HON RAILA
ODINGA PRIME MINISTER DURING PMQ TIME ON ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE
GRAND COALITION GOVERNMENT/TENTH PARLIAMENT
The Prime Minister (Mr.
Raila): Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me begin by wishing all hon. Members a very happy
and prosperous year, 2013.
On January15, 2008, we
gathered here to elect the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker and to swear in our
then new Members of Parliament.
Many Kenyan watchers
predicted that there would be serious legislative problems for the Government
if what transpired in this House on that day, and the fighting that was going on across the
country were anything to go by. Some predicted the prospect of a deadlock in
Parliament and difficulties in passing essential Bills.
Since that time, a lot of
water has passed under the bridge. A lot of positive things have gone on in the
country and in this House these last five years. Today, I want to take a moment to pay
tribute to the Tenth Parliament, the Government and the PRIME MINISTER’S TIME ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE GRAND
COALITION GOVERNMENT/TENTH
PARLIAMENT
The Prime Minister (Mr.
Raila): Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me begin by wishing all hon. Members a very happy
and prosperous year, 2013.
On January15, 2008, we
gathered here to elect the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker and to swear in
our then new Members of Parliament.
Many Kenyan watchers
predicted that there would be serious legislative problems for the Government if what
transpired in this House on that day, and the fighting that was going on across the
country were anything to go by. Some predicted the prospect of a deadlock in Parliament and
difficulties in passing essential Bills.
Since that time, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. A lot of positive things have gone on in the country and in this House these last five years. Today, I want to take a moment to pay tribute to the Tenth Parliament, the Government and the people of Kenya for the undying spirit and the resilience that has made us recover our breath and come this far. If this were a gathering of men and women of religion, we would all proclaim Ebenezer. I think that as a nation that believes in God, we can all say Ebenezer today. This far the Lord has brought us.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me
continue by expressing sincere gratitude to all Members of this house and
colleagues whom I have come to know as friends.
It has been quite an honor
to interact, to serve and to exchange views with you, sometimes bitterly, but
all, I believe, in our joint quest to make Kenya a better nation and to represent the feelings
of our constituents.
There is reason for the Members of the Tenth Parliament to go out holding their heads high. Out of the bitter divides of the 2008, the Grand Coalition Government, the critical input of the Tenth Parliament has presided over:-
(i) the Promulgation and implementation of a new Constitution;
(ii) the Restoration of peace, including resettlement of most of the Internally Displaced Persons;
(iii) restoration of economic growth; and,
(iv) institutional working Government that, more than any other Government in recent times has achieved what many thought would be impossible even the best of times.
Working closely with the Executive, the Tenth Parliament has overseen:-
(1) The biggest ever investment in the infrastructure development, with growth in roads, mobile telephony, energy and ICT standing out.
(2) Investment in food
security through irrigated agriculture in ones neglected places like Turkana.
(3) Expansion of energy
sources by investing in clean energy like geothermal, wind, solar and clean
coal.
(4) Poverty reduction
measures targeting vulnerable groups, including cash transfers to the poor and
elderly currently piloting in various parts of the country.
(5) Expansion of free
education to secondary schools and extending its benefits by providing sanitary
towels to girls.
(6) Liberation of Somalia
from Al Shabaab as part of our obligation to ourselves and to the global community
to name but just a few.
The evolution of projects
like the LAPSET, the Konza City and, above all, the promulgation of the new
Constitution have been so grand that they could only have come from the era of big dreams
that the Tenth Parliament and the Grand Coalition Government have come to
represent.
It is my hope that when
the history of this country is written years later, with the benefit of hindsight,
soberness and wisdom that comes with time, it will be more kind and gentle on the Grand
Coalition and the Tenth Parliament than day to day reviews have been.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, each of
us is hitting the campaign trail soon, except for a tiny minority that has opted
out of elective politics. I want to wish each of you well as you seek to recapture your
current seats or new ones. I hope you too will wish me success and victory.
(Applause)
I am sure that the
violence of 2007/2008 is still fresh in the minds of each of us. I want to appeal to everyone
that as we hit the campaign trail, let us not underestimate the impact we could make by
getting involved in matters of peace, stability and national security.
As we campaign, let us not
forget to remind Kenyans of the tasks ahead for the next Government. These
include:-
(i) A faithful and full implementation of the Constitution.(ii) Pursuit and implementation of Vision 2030 goals.(iii) Attaining the 10 per cent plus growth as part of the Medium Term Plan goals of Vision 2030.(iv) Security within our borders(v) Deepening infrastructure development and in particular full implementation of LAPSET projects.
(vi) The creation of an ICT hub of the region; especially the development of Konza Techno City.(vii) Reducing the cost of energy particularly through investment in green energysources.(viii) Full integration of the EAC.(ix) Ensuring a Peaceful Somalia and South Sudan.(x) Ensuring food security for the country.
We are leaving this House
at a moment in our history when Kenya faces daunting challenges. Some of our problems seem
greater than our Government’s ability to solve them.
Poverty, massive youth
unemployment, insecurity and tribalism stand out among the challenges. But I remain
deeply optimistic about our country’s future. It is my view that all those
challenges are surmountable. I am optimistic largely because of what I have
experienced and witnessed in the last five years. I am especially encouraged by what we have
been able to achieve after beginning so low five years ago.
With hindsight and experience
under the Grand Coalition Government, I can state without fear that the
greatest obstacle that stands between us and the brighter Kenyan future that we all want is
right here among us. It is the polarization of our politics along tribal and party lines.
This is what is preventing us from making the principled compromises this country
desires and deserves.
In a democracy, moving
forward depends on making compromises. We need a bipartisan understanding
in our politics if we are to unleash all the potential of the Kenyan people. And so, I
want to respectfully appeal to you, my colleagues, as you go out there to embark on
campaigns. I know how hard each of us is going to work to get elected to the various
seats that we are seeking. It is so engrossing that we may be tempted to forget that it
is not about us; it is about Kenya.
As we campaign out there and as we return to this House next year, for those who will be successful, let us be prepared to reach across the party, tribal and regional divide.
Let us be prepared that
for the sake of Kenya, when we gather in this House this year, each of us will reach
across the aisle and party divide. Let us strive to and find partners from the opposite party.
Let us put the interests of the country and constituents ahead of the dictates of party
ideology.
I was not here a few days
ago when His Excellency the President addressed this House for the last time. I
want to join Members in thanking President Kibaki for his service to our nation. I
also want to record my full appreciation for his co-operation within the Grand Coalition
Government which has made it possible for us to reach this far. It has not always
been easy. There has been all the time partisan pressure on both sides of the divide, that
is, on President Kibaki and also on myself. However, through the spirit of compromise and
tolerance, we have been able to make this Government move this far. I, therefore,
want to wish him well as he prepares to retire and hope that the remaining days, until he
hands over to whoever is going to be elected, are going to be smooth so that we do not
experience what we saw in 2008. I thank you very much,
hon. Members of Parliament.
Mr. Speaker: Right Honourable Prime Minister, so that you also know and it goes on record, on the same day that His Excellency the President addressed this House, the Kenya National Assembly hosted a dinner for him at the Inter-Continental Hotel to which all Members of Parliament were invited. His Excellency the President put it on record that he appreciated your support to him to manage the Coalition Government. So, please, note that he really acknowledged your efforts in the Coalition Government.
Hon. Members, following
earnest requests by most of you, we will treat this Statement by the Prime
Minister slightly differently. Those of you who may have clarifications will seek
them, but we want to accord as many of you as we can some two minutes or so given the
uniqueness of the title to the Prime Minister’s Statement this afternoon which is: Tribute
to the Tenth Parliament.
So, you might as well want
to acknowledge and appreciate yourselves. But those
of you who have had
questions for the Prime Minister will be at liberty also to raise those
issues. So, we will do
that for 30 minutes and the Prime Minister will have three minutes
to respond. Then we will
close the matter. We want to begin with the
Member for Gichugu.
Ms. Karua: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker, Sir. I want to join the Prime Minister in
paying tribute to
ourselves as the Tenth Parliament. However, unlike him, I will say that,
yes, we did well in
bringing forth legislation that helped this country stand up after the ashes that followed the
disputed elections. We did well in passing the Constitution. We did well in passing the
laws pursuant to the Constitution. But we know that we failed when passing some of those
laws because of self-interest. We even deviated from the spirit of the
Constitution. We need to acknowledge that on record.
I want to agree that the
Grand Coalition Government has done very well in infrastructure, but they
have done dismally in the fight against corruption and impunity.
However good the programmes and policies are of any government, without fighting corruption and impunity, the benefits can never reach the people and many of those programmes can never be implemented.
It is on record that up to
now, we do not have a functional anti-corruption body because of the
manipulations in the manner of appointments. We have not fulfilled the one-third gender rule.
That, again, I will say it is Parliament because the President and the Prime Minister in this
dispensation are Members of this Parliament. To me, that is a great shame.
I would say thank you to
Kenyans and the people of Gichugu for allowing me to serve them for 20 years.
Thank you to them because without them, I would not have been given the other
responsibilities. I now seek from Kenyans the mandate to steer Kenya after President Kibaki; to
fight corruption and impunity; to build and do better than the Grand Coalition Government
that has ended up being the Grand Corruption Government.
I would say that where the
Grand Coalition Government has reached, they are not capable of going beyond
that in the fight against corruption and impunity. As I wish us well, I am unable to wish
my fellow and worthy competitors luck because that luck should be to me solely, so
that I take over from President Kibaki.
I want to thank the Prime
Minister for initiating this appreciation and to appreciate Mr. Speaker. It
is not that we may have agreed--- I may have agreed with the Speaker 100 per cent that
he has done very well in a very difficult time. The President and the Prime Minister
have steered a very difficult marriage which we expected to break any time. So,
congratulations for steering a difficult marriage, but I now ask Kenyans to turn a new leaf in
electing none other than myself to steer the country. I thank you, Mr. Speaker,
Sir.
(Applause)
Mr. Imanyara: Thank you
very much, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I, too, join the Prime Minister in expressing
appreciation to the Tenth Parliament. When I say the Tenth Parliament, I start with
you, Mr. Speaker and your leadership of this House. That is because you have been a
worthy captain of the House. As the Prime Minister speaks to us as the Tenth Parliament, I
recall, indeed, that the last time a Prime Minister stood before this House, he proceeded
to become the President of the Republic of Kenya.
(Applause)
I am one of those who wish
him well. I will support him to become the President of the Republic of Kenya,
but I will be doing so with a word of caution that he be informed by events of
the last five years.
The fight for the new
Constitution has been a long struggle and we appreciate where we have come.
However, the bigger challenge is in implementing that Constitution.
The challenges that we
face are from the same sources that fought so hard to prevent passage of that
Constitution.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, you will
recall that we went late into the night in this House and, sometimes, forced to
vote with our feet in order to save that Constitution. I see the
challenge ahead is from the
same forces that will work day and night to prevent the realization of the full
fruits of Independence under a new Constitution. So, Prime Minister, drawing
from the parallels, be careful. I ask you to leave the Office of the Prime Minister
as your predecessor did. The office is going to be abolished under the new Constitution.
We are seeking a new dispensation under your leadership. My optimism for the
future is informed by---
Mr. Speaker: Your time is
up!
Mr. Imanyara: Please allow
me 20 seconds.
Mr. Speaker: You want 20
seconds? Okay, that is granted.
Mr. Imanyara: Mr. Speaker,
Sir, my optimism is informed by what I saw at Uhuru Park when the
Vice-President and the Prime Minister launched a coalition that is
guaranteed to bring real
change in this country and I wish them well.
The Minister for Forestry
and Wildlife (Dr. Wekesa): Mr. Speaker, Sir, just like the Prime Minister, I
was not able to be in the House when the President gave his Speech but I want
to join him in congratulating the President for that wonderful speech and also
for a good job that the President of this country has done in consultation and
cooperation
with the Prime Minister. I
remember the day that Kofi Annan came to this country to sort out our problems.
I was one of the speakers in that meeting who said that we needed a grand
coalition. I did that against opposition from many people in that
Chamber. I believed in a
coalition at that time and I do believe in it even now and even in future. The
days of one party system are much behind us. I do not think we will see Kenya
come out with one party that produces a chief executive of this country.
Therefore, I am here to
state very clearly that I appreciate the speech by the Prime
Minister. The Prime
Minister and the President have been good examples of what a
coalition should be. If
you remember, coalitions have been in Italy, India and so on. This coalition
has stood the test of time in its five years. I do congratulate the Prime
Minister and the President for steering us up to this time.
I know the Prime Minister,
I know him very well. I remember when our President was in hospital and we were
campaigning, then I joined the Prime Minister and we toured
this country. He
campaigned for President Mwai Kibaki as if the post was going to be his and he
is the one who said “Kibaki Tosha”. It looks to me now that some people have forgotten
but I have not. Here, we have the next President.
Mr. Speaker: Order, hon.
Member for Kwanza. Your time has been up a minute ago.
The Minister for Forestry
and Wildlife (Dr. Wekesa): Please, allow me 20 seconds.
Mr. Speaker: Okay, 20
seconds, please conclude.
The Minister for Forestry
and Wildlife (Dr. Wekesa): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I have always said that
I know who the next president is going to be. I have told Kenyans and I never
vote for losers. Raila Amollo Odinga is your next President.
Mr. Koech: Mr. Speaker,
Sir, thank you for giving me this opportunity to sincerely thank the Rt. Hon.
Prime Minister for giving us that Statement on tributes to the Tenth
Parliament. Many a times when you listen to what goes on outside there you wonder
whether anybody really recognizes and appreciates what this honourable House has
done. Sometimes I even think that the Executive does not consider and look at
how much this Parliament has done. This year alone, if my recollection is
correct, we have been able to pass over 100 Bills as compared to only 17 Bills
in---
Mr. Speaker: Hon. Member
for Mosop, was it last year or this year?
Mr. Koech: Last year, Mr.
Speaker, Sir. That is 2012. I did not say “happy new year” and that is why.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, when you
hear this Parliament being bashed left right and
centre, you wonder whether
the other quarter of this Government is actually seeing. The latest is when we
passed the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendment) Bill that was
generated and originated
from the Government for purposes of ensuring the passage of critical Bills
before the end of this Parliament but the Executive has not even issued a
single statement to say
how important it is.
Again last year, His
Excellency the President, I believe in concurrence with the Rt. Hon. Prime
Minister, honored many Kenyans. But looking at them, I was surprised that in
this House, they recognized Ministers only apart from only one passenger, Mr. Yusuf
Chanzu. I want to thank the Executive for recognizing him but looking back
again, you will discover that he
was once an Assistant Minister in this Government.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would
like the Prime Minister to tell us---
Mr. Speaker: I am afraid
your time is up. We must now get back to the rules. If we keep on spilling
over, we may not have as many Members but you may get 20 seconds.
Mr. Koech: Mr. Speaker,
Sir, how does the Prime Minister intend to honour Members of this honourable
House beyond the accolades on the Floor of the House?
Mr. C. Kilonzo: Mr.
Speaker, Sir, I wish to thank the Prime Minister for allowing us to blow our
own trumpets. There is no better opportunity than now. This Parliament has
played a crucial role in fighting corruption despite the lack of cooperation from
the Government. This is a Parliament which saw Ministers step aside from their
offices because of the work done by this House. The Tenth Parliament is where
the role of Committee has really improved and the general public has come to appreciate
what the Committee of Parliament can do and what Parliament can actually do to
serve their interests.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, although
we started on a very shaky ground, I wish to thank my own party leader, the
Prime Minister and the President for having kept this Government
moving. I do remember one
time when I visited the Prime Minister’s office - I have to
mention this case because
he might not be aware of a Kenyan lecturer who was stuck in a university in
South Africa with a bill of Kshs18 million – after the Government’s
intervention, that
lecturer was flown all the way from South African to Nairobi Hospital.
He has now recovered and
has gone ahead to apply for a job in the National Land Commission. That shows
that my party is where to go.
To conclude, there have
been failures by all of us especially when it comes to addressing salaries of
civil servants. These include the policemen, the nurses and the lecturers. I wish we could
have done slightly better. It is my prayer that when we take over this Government that
the first agenda---
Mr. Speaker: Your time is
up!
The Assistant Minister for
Foreign Affairs (Mr. Onyancha): Mr. Speaker, Sir, first of all, I would like to
state that at a personal level, it has been wonderful having been a first time
Member of Parliament and having worked very closely with the Prime Minister and
the Vice-President who were in the House and, indeed, with the Speaker himself.
It has been a learning experience. The truth is that the Tenth Parliament has
done wonderfully well. We tried
to learn as fast as we could. I think we went through the learning processes very
quickly and I think we did our job quite well.
For me, it was a very
fortunate experience and the fact that the Prime Minister
participated in having me
being appointed an Assistant Minister where I participated fully in making sure
that I did well during the transitional period for South Sudanese
Government. I am also very
proud to be associated with the Prime Minister and the President who made sure
that Somalia finally becomes a stable and solidified African
country that hopefully
will have success in future.
Lastly, I would like to
say that it is important for this House to be cautious and clear that the
public out there expects more. I believe we can do better with our Constituencies
Development Fund (CDF) money and make sure that the implementation of the
Constitution is successful. We should also work and make sure that corruption
in this country is reduced to the minimal. At the same time, I wanted to say
that I thank all
Members of this House for
having made some of us really enjoy working here.
Finally, I hope that we
have a very peaceful and successful election and I hope we will behave as
gentlemen and ladies to get the best person to become the President of Kenya,
and I hope it will be the Prime Minister, Raila Amollo Odinga.
Mr. Ochieng: Mr. Speaker
Sir, I want to join my colleagues in congratulating the Prime Minister for the
splendid speech that he gave especially in paying tribute to this House and to
my fellow colleagues who have done very well since we came here in 2008.
At times, it was very hard
just as it has been said by my colleagues that we felt that the
Government was going to
collapse but, finally, we are here. I want to actually just repeat what my
colleague, hon. Koech, has said that hon. Members deserve to be given medals just
like their colleagues in the Cabinet because we have done very well. That is
the only way we will also be appreciated by the Government. I want to believe
that as we approach elections, we do so with sober and peaceful minds and
because Kenya is one nation, I hope that this time round the elections will be
very peaceful and let us have the Prime Minister being the president of this
country. Thank you very much.
Mr. M’Mithiaru: Thank you,
Mr. Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to congratulate the Prime
Minister for the Statement and the tributes he has made to the
Tenth Parliament and also
as we carried our business in the Tenth Parliament, we noted
the role you had played.
In fact, you have been a cross cutting thread to ensure that the coalition was
properly knit and everything went on quite well.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, we
really knew this was a very loose coalition but the Prime Minister and the
President brought us home because they actually went beyond their expectations.
We have had instances where they talked about half a loaf of bread and consultations
not being there but with all that, the Government remained one and we have actually
seen the success that has been made through the developmental programmes that have
been put in place.
Mine now is to wish all of
us well as we go to the next elections and also to ensure that in the event of
any other coalitions, we now have some experience and let us
ensure that we put Kenya
first. Thank you so much.
Mr. Mbau: Thank you very
much, Mr. Speaker, Sir for giving me a chance to also thank the Prime Minister
for initiating debate in paying tribute to ourselves as hon. Members of this
Tenth Parliament simply because even though hon. Members of this House have
been applauded by the President himself for having done and achieved a record
passage of Bills, the public sometimes chooses not to appreciate what Members
of
Parliament do.
The other day, we passed
the Omnibus Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendment) Bill and even though the Bill
had meant a lot for what work is set for this House, some segments of the
public chose not to see that one simple amendment which was aimed to ensure
that instead of us not being Members of Parliament by January, they chose to
see that hon. Members only wanted to hold onto to their party membership or rather
to have more time to remain hon. Members instead of seeing that committees have
a lot of unfinished business, which if that law was not amended, we would
collapse and become irrelevant or redundant and not be able to transact
business anymore. I think it is high time that we also told the public that
there is a lot more that we do as committees beyond what they think.
Mr. Duale: Mr. Speaker,
Sir, I want to thank you for the role that you have
played in making sure that
Parliament finishes its mandate and for the Prime Minister, I want to say
categorically that that I am a very good student of his politically. We were
together in 2007. We might
not be together in 2013 but having said that, I want to thank him for chairing
and bringing together the coalition that had ups and downs. I want to thank the
Prime Minister for playing his role for the period that he was the Prime Minister
of Kenya. I wish him luck.
I want to tell him that if
he wins in the elections, we will work with him and if we win the elections, we
want him and his colleagues in the Coalition for Restoration of Democracy
(CORD) and the Vice-President, who is my neighbor, to also work with the Jubilee
Coalition. This is a Jubilee Coalition and this is a jubilee year and we expect
to
win the elections. We are
telling everybody to make the political competition a peaceful one and a
transition that will make Kenya a better place to live. Mr. Prime Minister, we
wish you well and a long life.
The Minister for Public
Works (Mr. Obure): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. First, I want to associate
myself with the sentiments expressed here in congratulating the Prime
Minister for a good
statement. This Parliament has been very successful led by you – a
very impartial, fair and
very firm Speaker. You will be remembered for the landmark
rulings you made while
presiding over the affairs of this House. This House will be
remembered for its role in
passing a new Constitution. It will be remembered for the large number of
pieces of legislation which were passed and the large number of Motions which
were passed in this Parliament.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, we know
that the Constitution has its own challenges of implementing it but I am
appealing to hon. Members to play their role to ensure that the Constitution
which Kenyans fought for so hard is realized and actualized. If you go around
the country today in various constituencies, you will see projects initiated by
hon.
Members of this House. In
fact, projects related to health, schools, water and all the rest have been
done under the supervision of these hon. Members of Parliament and they have demonstrated
that the little resources that have been made available through the devolved arrangement
can actually work. So, I want to congratulate the various hon. Members for supervising
the use of the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) effectively for the benefit
of the people.
I want to take this
opportunity to congratulate the Coalition Government. This Coalition Government
will be remembered for the massive infrastructure projects
initiated.
The Assistant Minister for
Higher Education, Science and Technology (Mr. Kamama): Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank
you for giving me this chance to thank the Prime Minister for the good expose
on what this House has achieved since its inception or since this Parliament
began. I also want to thank him for being the sober politician that he has been since he became the
Prime Minister of this Republic. Of course, he is going to be the last Prime Minister of
the Republic of Kenya because our Constitution does not recognize this position
again. I want to thank you for your landmark ruling, namely, the Solomonic wisdom that you
have given in this House on several matters, Bills and contentious issues. You
have been one of our best Speakers if not the best Speaker. I want to shower
accolades to all the Members of Parliament for doing very well on the ground in
their constituencies and in this House. Our Members have burnt the midnight oil
to ensure that several Bills are legislated and enacted in this House. I want
to thank the Members for also playing a great role in the promulgation of the
new Constitution. I also want to thank our friends in the Jubilee Coalition for
preparing themselves to take over the next Government and give Kenyans the best
leadership that they have never seen in this country.
Mr. Ngugi: Mr. Speaker,
Sir, I want to join my colleagues in thanking the Prime Minister for paying
tribute to the Members. I wish to pay tribute to the Members. I also
want to pay tribute to all
Kenyans who elected the Members of the Tenth Parliament.
They did a wonderful job.
This has been a House that will be remembered for a long time to come.
On 20th December, 2012,
the President paid tribute, particularly to two Committees of this House,
namely, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Public Investments
Committee (PIC), for the very diligent work they had have done in keeping the
Government on its toes. I want to say, on behalf of the PAC, which I am a
Member, that no Minister should take personal grudge on the Members of the PAC
or the PIC for having done their work. We
did our work to serve Kenyans and even if we were to be elected again, we would
do the same work.
I want to end by thanking
the Prime Minister. He has been a good example. He has worked very closely with
the President. He has been a good example to all of us who are first timers. To you,
Mr. Speaker, you have steered this House very well and we wish you the best for the
future. For those of us who are going to be governors will emulate what you, the Prime
Minister and the President have done.
The Minister of State for
Public Service (Mr. Otieno): Mr. Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me this
opportunity. I just want to make one statement. As a Minister, during the last
session, responsible for monitoring and evaluating performance, totally, it was
an excellent score for the National Assembly in this Session. Without
belabouring the point, you gave benchmark rulings in the Assembly. The
Assembly, as a whole, has had record performance in legislation. Initially,
when we had the leadership of this Government, namely, the President, the Prime
Minister and the Vice-President, it appeared as if it was not workable, but
they have demonstrated to Kenyans that all is possible if the leaders
are willing to do so.
Finally, I wish to commend
the performance of the lady Members of the Tenth
Parliament. I regret that
we did not legislate on the gender rule and we may have fewer female Members or
less active, but from the record of the Tenth Parliament, it is highly commendable
that Ms. Karua did an excellent job. Hon. Shebesh did a perfect job. Hon. Laboso
is an excellent Chair at the same time. Hon. Kamar has great happiness in performance.
My brother here tells me if I made a mistake of mentioning names, hon. Odhiambo-Mabona
should be mentioned ten times and hon. Kilimo should be mentioned six times. It
was a great pleasure working with them.
Mr. Speaker: Your time is
up, hon. Otieno. I have just three minutes and I have two persons that have
been persistent and they are almost neighbors. So, I want them to share those
three minutes; one and a half minute each, hon. Munya and then we will finish
with your neighbor, who I will identify in a moment.
The Assistant Minister for
East African Community (Mr. Munya): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I take this opportunity
to congratulate the Prime Minister for work well done when steering this
Government together with the President. But may I also give a word of caution
to the two grand coalitions that are poised on trying to take over the Government
in the coming elections. When they take over, they should follow the practice
of the two Coalition partners, not to exclude Kenyans who are not in the coalitions.
If they practice politics of exclusion, they are not likely to go very far in running
the Government because the Constitution is very clear on how resources should be
shared in the country. Every Kenyan is entitled to a share of the national
cake. When you do coalitions that divide the country and share the national
cake amongst the coalition partners, you give the impression that you intend to
exclude those who are not members or supporters of those collations. It does
not augur well for the welfare and the development of the country.
Therefore, when you take
over the Government, make sure that you take care of all the Kenyans, whether
they are members of your coalitions or not. Otherwise, you will find a very
rough time in attempting to run the Government or that mandate that you will be
given.
The Minister for Energy
(Mr. Murungi): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also want to join my colleagues in thanking
the Prime Minister for leading us in paying tribute to the Tenth Parliament. We
have been in this Parliament for some time now, but I think this is the most
vibrant Parliament that we have been in. I am one of those who did not vote for
you when you were being elected Speaker, but I want to assure you that if we
were to vote again tomorrow, count on my vote. I am going to vote for you!
The Grand Coalition has
done extremely well given the difficult circumstances we were in. It has
brought peace and security. It has laid down firm foundations for prosperity
for this country. The Prime Minister is a great nationalist. He has great ideas for this country. We have
been opposing him and we are also going to oppose him again, but I must say
that I have enjoyed working in the Grand Coalition Government. It is not a bad
idea. We could not have enacted the new Constitution without this Grand
Coalition Government. I want to encourage the Prime Minister to start some
discussions with his Deputy, Mr. Kenyatta, so that we can have another grand
coalition between CORD and the Jubilee Alliance, so that we can lead this
country in peace and prosperity for another five years until 2017. If we do not
do that, this country will be split and taken to the political struggles that
were there between Jomo Kenyatta and the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in the
1960s. We are likely to split the country.
Mr. Speaker: Hon. Murungi,
your time is up. Hon. Prime Minister, you may now want to respond.
The Prime Minister (Mr.
Raila): Mr. Speaker, Sir, let me thank all the Members
who have contributed to this
discussion. There is not much for me to respond to because no specific issues
were raised. The Members basically also took the opportunity to thank themselves.
However, one or two issues
stand out here. Hon. Karua was particularly concerned about corruption. The
Member has been a Member of the Front Bench for a long time. In the last
Parliament, she was on the Front Bench for five years and even in this
Parliament, she was very much part of it and she knows the issues about
corruption. I believe very strongly that we, as a country, must address the
issue of corruption more effectively. It is a pity that the compromises you
have in a coalition also make it difficult to deal with the issue of corruption
because sometimes culprits take solace and refuge in the divisions that come
with the coalition. If they are being targeted, they go and say: “Oh, I am
being targeted because I belong to this side of the coalition”.
In my view, that has made
the fight against corruption much more difficult in this coalition era. The
Members know that names were brought to this House for approval as members of
the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
It is a pity that so far, we
have not been able to set up an effective anti-corruption commission. The
reasons are well known to the Members of the House. Equally, I strongly regret
the fact that we have not passed legislation to effect the one-third gender
rule, which is in the Constitution. It is a pity. However, there is a way out
because the courts have ruled that this must be rectified by the year 2015. I hope
that in the course of the life of the next Parliament, we are going to come up
with legislation which will enable us to satisfy the provisions of the gender
rule. We can use the results of these coming elections and the votes which
would be obtained by the various political parties as the basis for allocating
seats on the gender basis within that period. In other words, it does not have
to last beyond the life of the next Parliament. I am determined to ensure that,
that happens.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I need
to congratulate you, specifically, for the role you have played as captain of
this House. You have steered the debates and discussions in this House in a
very civilized manner. You have managed to depolarize politics within this House.
Sometimes you have been called upon to resolve differences within the Executive itself. Issues which, even
as you said, were not within your own purview or responsibility, have come
before you and you have helped us in making the Grand Coalition Government function
smoothly. For example, when we disagreed on the issue of the appointments of
the Chief Justice, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Attorney-General
and the Controller of Budget, you assisted us despite the fact that there were
very strong and passionate feelings among other Members.
All that I was doing was just
to ensure that no Presidency is created which will enable the Executive to
abuse the provisions of the Constitution. With that intervention, we now have a
Chief Justice who everybody agrees is equal to the enormous task of judicial
reforms.
Finally, at times, it has
not been very easy to handle this position as a Prime Minister. I have now the
honor to be the last Prime Minister because this position is going to be
extinct in the new constitutional dispensation. It is not an easy position particularly
when you are the Prime Minister in a Grand Coalition Government, when you share
power with the President on a 50-50 basis.
Sometimes partisan issues
come into play which undermine the effectiveness of the position of a Prime
Minister. But we have managed to tolerate and move forward. The President has
sometimes come under a lot of partisan pressure. I know when the President is
acting as himself and when he is acting under partisan pressure. I have equally
also come under a lot of partisan pressure.
Sometimes you are being
told that: “Oh, you are being subservient to your coalition partner. They are getting
the better of you and you are not being treated as an equal partner”. But we have
looked at the bigger good of the country and tried to resist the pressures which would have
resulted in the collapse of the Coalition Government.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are
happy that we have reached this far. We have been two
equal partners in the
Grand Coalition Government. One coalition partner is now retiring and I know
that hon. Members will agree with me that the other coalition partner, who has
the experience, should continue so that there is continuity in the Government.
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